Gastrostomy Care

A gastrostomy is a surgical opening into the stomach, made through an incision in the left, upper abdomen. The anterior gastric wall is sutured to the abdomen, preventing leakage of gastric contents into the abdominal cavity. The gastrostomy procedure is done when disease or injury of the esophagus makes gastric intubation by way of the esophagus impossible.
Special attention must always be paid to the skin area around the tube since there may be some leakage of gastric secretions and, unless the skin is kept clean and dry, it will soon become very irritated. When the nursing paraprofessional does the gastrostomy feeding, he must also know how to carry out the prescribed skin care and dressing procedure.