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Enteral tube feeding for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis / motor neuron disease
Independent publisher
This describes who publishes a source, not how reliable it is.
Open source (opens in a new tab)Link checked August 2026
About this source
Cochrane’s research review.
Where this source is used
Used in 6 places across 1 domain.
People who may help
Therapies and allied health
- Dietitian
What this person does, and where they sit in a team
Doctors
- Gastroenterologist
What this person does, and where they sit in a team
Questions
Lifestyle
Feeding Tube
- What are the benefits and burdens to weigh, and can I change my mind?
Supports a claim in this answer
A feeding tube supports nutrition but its effect on survival and quality of life is not established by high-quality evidence
- What are the benefits and burdens to weigh, and can I change my mind?
Qualifies this
“No high-quality trial has compared having a feeding tube with carrying on eating by mouth, so its effect on survival and quality of life is not established either way.”
A systematic review that searched for randomised trials comparing tube feeding with carrying on eating by mouth and found none, for any outcome. It adds that such trials are very unlikely to be run for ethical reasons, so this is an absence of trial evidence rather than evidence that a tube does not help.
There are no RCTs or quasi-RCTs to indicate whether enteral tube feeding is effective compared to continuation of oral feeding for any of the outcome measures. Such RCTs are very unlikely to be performed for ethical reasons.
Authors' conclusions - Why might a feeding tube be suggested, and what can it help with?
Supports a claim in this answer
A feeding tube can help maintain nutrition, fluids and weight, but its effect on survival or quality of life is not established by high-quality (randomised) evidence
- Why might a feeding tube be suggested, and what can it help with?
Qualifies this
“No high-quality trial has compared having a feeding tube with carrying on eating by mouth, so its effect on survival and quality of life is not established either way.”
A systematic review that searched for randomised trials comparing tube feeding with carrying on eating by mouth and found none, for any outcome. It adds that such trials are very unlikely to be run for ethical reasons, so this is an absence of trial evidence rather than evidence that a tube does not help.
There are no RCTs or quasi-RCTs to indicate whether enteral tube feeding is effective compared to continuation of oral feeding for any of the outcome measures. Such RCTs are very unlikely to be performed for ethical reasons.
Authors' conclusions
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