I.V. feeding through a pic line? (not lc related)

[stand4hope]

I'm sorry to ask this question on here. Guess I should find another forum, but I don't want to (LOL!), so I'm going to ask anyway.

Has anybody ever had or heard of being fed through a pic line with some type of thick stuff that contains nutrients, vitamins, protein, etc.? My son is having one put in tomorrow and the only kind of feeding I've ever heard of is with a stomach tube.

They say it will take away his cravings and hunger pains/discomfort. Is that true?

Thanks in advance,

Love to all,

Peggy

[Patkid]

Peggy,

I found this :

http://www.via-med.com/venousaccess.aspx

I was surprised to see that they do use a PICC to infuse nutrients.

Wow.

Prayers for your son, your hubster and you!

Love

Pat

[Donna G]

We use them at the hospital. It is called TPN , total parenteral nutrition. The line is long so it is a "central" line. You can give a higher concentration in a central line. If you only had a needle in your arm we can only give up to 10% Dextrose.

Donna G

[Fay A.]

Peggy,

Many years ago I was in an auto accident and I had several serious injuries-one of which was a badly bruised pancreas. I basically stopped digesting food. I was fed for a period of time through something called a Subclavian IV. It was a central line such as you describe. While in the hospital I met a young Mother of three children who was on this type of feeding system full time, and had been for several years. She had lost much of her digestive system due to injuries from an auto accident.

Hope your son heals quickly. This is a rough thing to go through.

[teresag]

As Donna and Fay have already said, this is pretty common. A PICC is a "peripherally inserted central catheter" which means although it comes out of the arm, it goes all the way into one of the larger veins near the heart, so concentrated solutions can be infused. The major complications are high blood sugar and infection at the insertion site, which are closely monitored.

Illustration here:

http://www.cancernorth.nhs.uk/test_trea ... t/picc.asp

With best wishes to you and yours, Teresa

[Cindy RN]

Like Donna said it sounds like TPN, they also give Lipids with some patients getting TPN. That is the fatty stuff our bodies need. It is in a glass bottle and is thick and white.

Best wishes for yours.

Cindy

[stand4hope]

Thank you, my friends. You're right, it is for TPN. The PICC line was put in a couple of hours ago, but they still haven't brought the bag of "goodies". He was scared to death, but afterward he said it was "easy". Before they did it, he told his dad they were going to put a hole in his arm the size of a quarter , and put something like an octopus through his arm.

Thanks for the links, too. Teresa, that picture was very helpful to get a visual what it looks like.

Two nurses have now told me that it will take away his hunger - he is so very hungry - 7 days without food now. They also said if I go there 6 hours after he's been receiving the "food", I will be able to tell a big difference in how he feels.

Cindy, I don't know about the lipids, but I'll find out what they ordered for him.

Thanks again, everyone.

Love,

Peggy