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How long a feeding tube stays after tongue surgery | CION Cancer Clinics
After a glossectomy, a thin feeding tube through the nose usually stays for somewhere between a few days and a few weeks, until you can swallow enough by mouth safely. After a larger operation, or when radiotherapy follows, some people need a tube for longer, sometimes one placed straight into the stomach. This page explains which tube you may have, what decides when it comes out, and how to manage it at home. CION Cancer Clinics’ surgical oncologists in Hyderabad can talk this through with you.
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Medically reviewed by Dr. Muralidhar MuddusettyConsultant Surgical Oncologist · MBBS (AIIMS), MS (Surgery, AIIMS), DNB (Surgical Oncology), MRCS (Edinburgh) · last reviewed September 2026, next review due September 2027
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On this page
- How long will I need a feeding tube after glossectomy?
- Which kind of feeding tube might you have?
- What happens to the tube from theatre to going home?
- Which words will you hear about the tube?
- What do families believe about feeding tubes, and what is true?
- What can this page not tell you?
- Common questions about feeding tubes after glossectomy
The short answer
How long will I need a feeding tube after glossectomy?
For most people, the tube stays for a few days to a few weeks. It comes out when a speech and swallowing therapist is satisfied that you can swallow enough food and fluid by mouth, safely, to keep your weight steady. The date is set by how your swallow is doing, not by the calendar.
Why a tube is needed at all
The tongue does much of the work of a swallow. It shapes food and pushes it to the back of the throat. After surgery the mouth is swollen and stitched, and food passing over the stitches can slow healing. The tube gives you nutrition, water and medicines while the mouth rests.
What usually makes it longer
A small operation at the side of the tongue often needs only a short spell with a tube, and some people need none. A tube tends to stay longer when a large part of the tongue was removed, when the back of the tongue was involved, when a tracheostomy is in place, or when radiotherapy follows, because it makes the mouth sore for a time.
Types of tube
Which kind of feeding tube might you have?
Most people after tongue surgery have the first kind. The second is planned when a longer need is expected.
A tube through the nose
A soft, thin tube passes through one nostril, down the back of the throat and into the stomach. It is usually placed while you are asleep in theatre, so you wake up with it already there, taped to your cheek.
Usually suits
- A partial or half tongue operation
- An expected need of weeks rather than months
- People likely to swallow again soon
A tube into the stomach
A tube is placed through the skin of the belly straight into the stomach, called a PEG or a gastrostomy. It is hidden under clothes and easier to live with over months. Placing it is a small procedure with its own small risks.
No tube at all
Some people with a small operation at the tip or side of the tongue start sips and soft foods within days and never need a tube. Your team decides this after surgery, depending on swelling and the first swallow test.
Less likely if
- The back of the tongue was operated on
- A flap was used
- A tracheostomy is in place
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Ask an oncologistStep by step
What happens to the tube from theatre to going home?
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In theatre
The tube is usually placed while you are under anaesthetic, and its position is checked before anything goes through it. You will not remember this part.
-
The first days
Liquid feed, water and most medicines go through the tube. You are nil by mouth, which means nothing to eat or drink, while the stitches settle. Nurses clean your mouth for you and then teach you to do it.
-
The first swallow test
When the swelling settles, a speech and swallowing therapist watches you try sips of water or thickened fluid. Sometimes a thin camera through the nose, or an X-ray while you swallow, shows where the fluid goes.
-
Eating alongside the tube
If the test goes well, you start small amounts by mouth while the tube tops up the rest. This overlap can last a while. It is normal and does not mean the swallow is failing.
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Coming out, or going home with it
The tube comes out when you are eating and drinking enough by mouth. If that has not happened by discharge, you go home with it, and the family is taught to use it before you leave.
!
One thing that cannot wait
Stop the feed and call the team, or go to the nearest emergency department the same day, if you cough or struggle to breathe during a feed, if feed comes back up into the mouth or nose, if the tube has moved and the mark at the nostril has shifted, or if the skin around a stomach tube turns hot, red and leaking. Do not push a moved tube back in yourself, and do not restart the feed until someone has checked it.
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On the ward
Which words will you hear about the tube?
- Nasogastric tube, or NG tube
- The tube through the nose into the stomach. The most common kind after tongue surgery.
- PEG or gastrostomy
- A tube through the skin of the belly into the stomach, used when a longer need is expected.
- Nil by mouth
- Nothing to eat or drink by mouth, not even water, until the team says so.
- Bolus feed
- A set amount of feed given through the tube with a large syringe, several times a day, much like meals.
- Pump feed
- Feed dripped in slowly by a small machine over several hours, often overnight.
- Aspiration
- Food, fluid or saliva going into the windpipe instead of the food pipe. This is what the swallow test is checking for.
Commonly believed
What do families believe about feeding tubes, and what is true?
"The tube means the surgery has gone badly."
A tube after tongue surgery is planned, not a sign of trouble. It protects the healing mouth and keeps you fed while the swelling settles. Most people who have one after a partial operation go back to eating by mouth.
"Home-made food through the tube is more nourishing."
Blended home food can block a thin nose tube, and it may not give the protein and calories you need at this stage. Use the feed your dietitian prescribes. If you want to add home food later, ask the dietitian how to do it first.
"If the tube is still in after a month, it will never come out."
Swallowing recovers slowly after larger operations and after radiotherapy. Many people use a tube and eat by mouth side by side for months, then stop the tube. A long overlap is common, and it is not a verdict.
"Eating a little by mouth early will speed things up."
Eating before the therapist has checked your swallow can send food into the windpipe and cause a chest infection, which sets recovery back. Follow the stages you are given, even when you feel hungry.
Being straight with you
What can this page not tell you?
This page cannot tell you how long your own tube will stay. That depends on the operation you actually had, how the flap heals, whether you need radiotherapy and how your swallow responds to therapy. Two people with the same operation can come off the tube weeks apart.
Questions worth asking before the operation
Ask whether a tube is expected, which kind, and the likely range for how long. Ask who will teach the family to use it, where to buy feed near home, and who to call at night if it blocks or moves.
Looking after yourself with the tube
Keep your mouth clean even when you are not eating, because a clean mouth heals faster. Flush the tube with water as you are shown, before and after each feed and each medicine. Weigh yourself every week if you can, and tell the team if your weight keeps dropping, because the feed may need changing.
Nothing here is advice on whether to have surgery, or on your own feeding plan. Those decisions sit with you and your treating team.Questions we are asked
Common questions about feeding tubes after glossectomy
How long does a nose feeding tube stay after tongue surgery?
Usually from a few days to a few weeks. It stays until your therapist is satisfied you can swallow enough by mouth, safely, to keep your weight steady. After a larger operation, or when radiotherapy follows, it can stay longer. Your team will give you a likely range and revise it as you heal.
Does having the tube put in hurt?
It is usually placed while you are asleep in theatre, so you do not feel it going in. Afterwards most people describe a mild irritation in the nose and throat rather than pain, which becomes easier to ignore. Tell the nurse if it feels sore.
Can I talk with the tube in?
Yes. A thin nose tube does not stop you speaking, although your speech will already be different because of the swelling in your tongue. Keep a notepad or a phone nearby for the early days. A tracheostomy affects talking more than the feeding tube does.
Can I go home with a feeding tube?
Many people do. Before discharge, the nurse and dietitian teach you and a family member how to give feeds, flush the tube, give medicines through it and keep it in place. You will be told which feed to use and how much. Ask who to call if the tube blocks or moves at night.
Why would I need a PEG instead of a nose tube?
A tube into the stomach is usually suggested when the team expects tube feeding for many weeks or months, for example after a very large operation or ahead of radiotherapy. It is more comfortable over a long spell, and it can be removed once you no longer need it.
Can my medicines go through the tube?
Most can, but not all. Some tablets must not be crushed, and some capsules block the tube. Ask the ward pharmacist or your doctor how each of your medicines should be given, and do not change any medicine on your own. Always flush with water before and after.
What if the tube falls out at home?
Do not try to push it back in. Stop any feed, keep the tube if it came out whole, and call the team or go to the nearest emergency department the same day. The opening for a stomach tube can start closing quickly, so do not wait until morning if it is a PEG.
Will Aarogyasri or insurance cover the tube and the feed?
The tube placed during surgery is usually part of the operation package under Aarogyasri, CGHS, ECHS, EHS or cashless insurance. Feed and supplies after discharge are often not covered. Ask the scheme desk before discharge what is included and what you will need to buy yourself.
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Sources
- NHS — Mouth cancer: treatment
- National Cancer Institute — Nutrition in cancer care (PDQ)
- Macmillan Cancer Support — Mouth cancer
- Cancer Research UK — Mouth and oropharyngeal cancer
This page is general information, not a prescription. Do not change or stop any treatment based on what you read here. If anything is worrying you, contact your own treating team — or call our helpline and we will help you reach the right specialist.
Keep reading
Related pages
Swallowing After GlossectomyHow the swallow restarts, which decides when the tube comes outLearning to Eat Again After Tongue SurgeryThe foods and textures that follow the tubeTracheostomy During Tongue Cancer SurgeryThe other tube many people wake up withDrains, Tubes, Lines and CathetersEvery tube after cancer surgery, explained
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Worried about a feeding tube at home?
Tell us what operation was done and how feeds are going. We will help you reach a surgical oncologist or a swallowing therapist for a review. One helpline serves every CION centre.