Nutritional pathway for people with motor neurone disease

Br J Community Nurs. 2016 Jul;21(7):360-3. doi: 10.12968/bjcn.2016.21.7.360.

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the nutritional management and care of people living with motor neurone disease (MND) in a specialist nutrition clinic. A specialist pathway of care has been developed to enable people living with MND to undergo a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) procedure in a safe way; the pathway incorporates attendance at a dedicated nutrition clinic, a stratification tool to identify patients with a high periprocedural risk and a PEG insertion team with significant experience in the MND population. Since this pathway has been in place, gastrostomies have been successfully placed in patients with a forced vital capacity (FVC) of less than 50%; previously, this would not have been possible.

Keywords: Motor neuron disease; PEG; nutrition; pathway.

MeSH terms

  • Ambulatory Care / organization & administration*
  • Gastrostomy / methods*
  • Humans
  • Motor Neuron Disease / physiopathology
  • Motor Neuron Disease / therapy*
  • Nutritional Support / methods*
  • Patient Acceptance of Health Care
  • Patient Care Team
  • Vital Capacity