Infants/
Children

If getting a tube for the first time, surgery will be required. Before the procedure, you will be shown an actual G-Tube (or button) or a picture of one. You’ll be told specific information about how the tube will be placed. If your tube is being replaced, such as moving from a PEG to another type of tube, or you are moving from a standard-length tube to a MIC-KEY* G-Tube, you may have your tube changed in the hospital.

For surgical placements, your child may be in the hospital for a few days. Your care team will provide details on what to expect and how to prepare prior to coming in. Bathe your child the night or morning before the procedure. Your child shouldn’t be allowed to eat or drink anything for several hours before the surgery. You’ll be told a specific number of hours to hold fluids and food the day before the procedure.

Your care team will talk to you about the tube and how it works, along with how to care for it. This information will be given to you again after the procedure.

Expect the procedure to take one to three hours. Your child will receive anaesthesia and will then be in the post-anaesthesia recovery area for a few hours.

The tube can be placed using a variety of methods. Your doctor will choose the one that is best suited for your child.

Tube placements or replacements that do not require surgery can be done quickly and without pain or discomfort in an ambulant setting or day clinic. For button tubes, like the MIC-KEY* G-Tube, your physician may use a stoma measuring device to ensure they select a tube that fits correctly.

A few hours after surgery the tube feeds will be gradually started.

The stoma site may be tender at first. Pain medication will be given as needed. Expect to see some drainage (clear or blood-tinged) at the site. Your care team may use a dressing to absorb the drainage. Dressings will be used only in the initial days of post-op, if drainage occurs. Be sure to change the dressing as often as needed to keep the site dry, as wet and soiled dressings can cause the skin to breakdown around the stoma site. Some redness after the procedure is normal and should go away in about three days.

Upon discharge, you should be given further instructions on what to do for daily tube and stoma care. You’ll also be taught how to administer tube feeds and medication using your tube and extension sets (for MIC-KEY* G-Tubes), how to flush the tube, what additional feeding supplies will be needed and where to get them and when to call your doctor.

If the child has a mature stoma and was given a tube as a replacement tube, you may be shown how to rotate the tube and how to replace the tube at home.

You’ll want to find a good place to store supplies once you get home. Set up your supplies, including your enteral feeding pump.

Until the stoma site is fully healed, do not immerse your stoma site in water. Have showers not baths. Your healthcare professional will advise when you can have a bath or go swimming.

Clean the site during the first two weeks daily using gauze and sterile water, be sure to clean under the dome of the tube as well. Be sure to keep the tube and stoma site clean and dry at all times. Expect some drainage to occur in the first few days, but also be on the lookout for major skin or stoma changes that your care team has described before you were discharged.

Clean the MIC-KEY* Extension Sets after every usage as instructed in the hospital.

After a period of two weeks: As part of your daily tube and stoma care, you’ll need to rotate the tube daily to prevent it from sticking in the track or to the stomach lining. You’ll also want to refer to your written directions for feeding instructions. This includes when to feed, what to feed, how much to feed, and pump-setting information if relevant.

If the tube feels too tight, contact your care team. Be sure to understand what issues may require urgent (attention within 24 hours) or emergent (immediate) care. When in doubt, call your care team.

Remember: the first day at home after any big change is going to require some adjustment. But before long, you and your child will become more used to the feeding tube and you’ll develop a new routine that’s second nature to you.