Tips for Managing Your Child’s G- or J-tube

Tips for Managing Your Child’s G- or J-tube

Many children with hyperinsulinism (HI) need a gastrostomy tube (G-tube), when thin tubing is inserted into the child’s stomach to deliver food or medicine, including dextrose. Other children with HI may need a jejunostomy tube (J-tube), which deliver food or medicine straight into the small intestine, bypassing the stomach.

During your child’s inpatient hospitalization, you'll be educated on how to care for your child’s G-tube or J-tube.

Here are some suggestions to help you manage your child’s G/J-tube:

  • Support before discharge. Before your child is discharged with a G/J-tube, an outpatient appointment will be scheduled with gastroenterology (GI) or surgery for G/J-tube replacement. GI or surgery will also oversee ordering and helping with your child’s enteral (tube feeding) supplies. 
  • Watch for infection. G/J-tubes do not get infected often, but if the site appears red or is draining, please send a picture to GI or surgery through MyCHOP, our online patient medical record portal. You may also want to take your child to the pediatrician to have them look at it.
  • Prepping for removal. When your child is no longer using their G/J-tube, it can be removed, but first they will need to be taking medications and feeds by mouth. As you and your clinical team discuss planning for when your child no longer needs the G/J-tube, this is a good time to start giving medications by mouth, if you have not already. 
  • Getting amounts exact. We want to give exact amounts of dextrose (and sometimes formula) through G/J-tubes. Enteral feeding pumps are necessary to give exact amounts of liquid through a G/J-tube. The home care company that will assist you when you get home will usually give you an IV pole to hang the enteral pump on while at home. You should also receive a backpack for travel and when your child is on the move.

Helpful accessories

Esty, the online store that offers handmade items, sells alternatives to IV poles for hanging enteral pumps that may make it easier to hang a pump on a crib rail, stroller or back of a chair. Here are a couple types that families say have worked for them. They can also be personalized:
Hero tubie

Hero Tubie

Flying squirrel

Flying Squirrel

Gtube port covers

G-Tube Port Covers

Etsy also offers G-tube port covers for the extension connection port. This helps prevent curious hands from tugging it apart.

Fostering family confidence

At CHOP, we want to make sure that you’re comfortable using and caring for your child’s G/J-tubes before discharge. You can attend learning sessions in our Family Learning Center, located on the eighth floor in the Main Hospital within the Connelly Center for Families, and practice at the bedside with your child’s nurses.

For additional resources, reach out to your GI or surgical provider’s office.