Assessment of the effect of colored beverage on gastric returns after gastric tube replacement to enhance placement verification

• Published in: Nutrition in clinical practice 2022-04, Vol.37 (2), p.413-424
• Main Authors: McGinnis, Carol, Marroquin, Sara, Reed, Valerie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: enteral nutrition; gastric tube verification; gastrostomy tube; patient safety
• ISSN: 0884-5336; 1941-2452
• DOI: 10.1002/ncp.10796

Background Verification of appropriate placement of newly replaced gastrostomy tubes is essential prior to use to avoid potentially serious adverse events. Problem A lack of standardized guidance regarding effective and practical means to verify placement exists. Aspiration or drainage of gastric‐like contents is one mean suggested to help determine placement, yet when returns are minimal, this becomes challenging. Materials, Method, Intervention Oral ingestion or the instillation of a colored beverage prior to tube replacement was used in a midwestern healthcare clinical setting to enhance returns in both volume and color via the newly replaced gastrostomy tube. A retrospective review of this practice was conducted, which included 176 gastric tube replacements over 4 years. Results A significant increase in volume of returns via the newly replaced tube was noted (P < .001) and a strong correlation of color to the ingested or consumed beverage was found with 95% of returns reflecting color tinting of the beverage or in many cases, strong color change to that of the beverage color. Conclusion Presented is a simple, cost‐effective method that has shown to be clinically useful in assessing placement of newly replaced gastrostomy tubes that may be useful in other practices and settings.