Feeding mechanically ventilated patients
A feeding tube for mechanically ventilated patients has been introduced at Laniado.
The closed system that prevents patient infection has to date been implemented in only two hospitals in Israel and Laniado is the third.
Mechanically ventilated patients hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit require a constant feed directly into their digestive systems. The various options for feeding that have been used to date in necessitate human contact in preparing the food and connecting the pumping system to the patient's body.
laniado has worked closely with the Abbott Company and has developed a new enteral feeding system (which delivers nutrients directly into the small intestine), with no human contact at any stage of the input process thereby reducing the risk of infeciton to zero. The feeding system is called RTH (right to hang).
The department is the Intensive Care Unit, headed by Dr. Morris Shapiro, said: "The RTH system will help us in our daily challenge of preventing infection in artificially ventilated patients, whose immune system is already compromised due to artificial respiration. In addition, we make the work of the nursing staff more efficient because the treatment time for the nurse administering a closed feeding system is an average of only two minutes, compared to an average of 15 minutes for an open feeding system”.
Leading the closed feeding system project at Laniado is Ms Hila Boaz, chief dietician at the hospital, who is responsible for the various feeding programs for patients. "I am happy that the hospital is pioneering a breakthrough in this field. I have no doubt that the various dietary programs we are designating for each patient can be done with maximum precision by using the new Abbott feeding system”, she says.