Evaluation of nasogastric tube fixation methods: adhesion, displacement and skin integrity.
Lucia Ingridy Farias Thorpe, Jabiael Carneiro da Silva, Renato Barros Moraes and 3 others
PMID 39319894WHAT IT FOUND
The commercial nasogastric tube fixation held better under a 500 g simulated pull, with no detachment or displacement, while tape fixations detached and moved.
But all methods, including the commercial one, caused skin lesions on the pig-skin noses.
Key findings
01At 500 g traction, fixation A detached in 10% and fixation B detached in 50% at 12 hours; at 24 hours, fixation A detached in 10% and fixation B detached in 70%.
02Fixation C showed no detachment when exposed to the three weights or at 12 and 24 hours, and it showed no displacement even under 500 g traction.
03All fixations caused skin lesions; 90% were total thickness loss and 10% were partial thickness loss.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The test was done on pig-skin noses, not on people, so it cannot show what happens in a patient's skin. The weights simulated pulling, but they may not match how patients or caregivers tug, move, sweat, or touch the tube. All fixations caused skin lesions in the model, so none was shown to protect skin integrity. The paper recommends further in vivo studies before the findings are taken as patient care evidence.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the commercial fixation is safest for patients. This was an ex vivo test on pig-skin noses, not people, and every fixation caused skin lesions in the model. The traction was simulated, not a patient's actual movement.