Evidence Hub

Clinical guidance for the use of nasogastric tube feeding under restraint in eating disorders care: a systematic scoping review

West H, Williams O, Foye U, Robert G

Journal of eating disorders, 2026

1 citation

Abstract

Background: Persistent dietary restriction can result in people with eating disorders becoming so severely physically and mentally compromised that they are considered a risk to their own life. In these circumstances, individuals may be subjected to involuntary treatments, including nasogastric tube (NGT) feeding under restraint. This systematic scoping review identifies and assesses the evidence available to healthcare professionals to inform clinical practice decisions related to NGT feeding under restraint in eating disorder care, and highlights gaps in knowledge to be addressed in future research.

Main text: Six electronic databases, six grey literature sites, 12 professional bodies, and four eating disorder conference websites were searched in May 2025. 36 sources met inclusion criteria, including: peer reviewed papers and practice guidelines. Peer-reviewed literature (22) included quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research studies, and systematic reviews. Grey literature (14) included practice guidance in the form of expert opinion, expert consensus, and practice standards. A narrative review was structured using deductive analysis focused on the following research questions in relation to eating disorders care: (1) where and how is NGT feeding under restraint happening? (2) how are healthcare professionals making decisions about when and how to use NGT feeding under restraint? (3) what are patients, parents/carers, and healthcare professionals' experiences…

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free