Challenges Of Oral Enteral Medication Delivery Via ENFit Syringes

Trying to reduce human errors is always difficult. However, mistakes can always be rectified with the procedure continued without too much of harm. Unfortunately, this statement fails to appease patients who have lost their near and dear ones due to faulty connections that caused different types of tubes to come together thereby jeopardizing the life of a hapless patient. No amount of penalty can make such an error right though. This problem has caused, “Global Enteral Device Supplier Association (GEDSA)” to come up with a foolproof device that is sure to mitigate the issue to a great extent. The resultant enteral connectors are now available for use and distributed under the brand name, ENFit.

The Need

Questions had begun to arise at the thought of educating the entire staff at hospitals and other medical facilities for implementation of the new devices. The association has managed to answer almost every one of them convincingly so far. It suffices to know that the ENFit connectors are totally incapable of being fitted into a Luer or any other kind of small bore connectors making the possibility of misconnections rare indeed. Sure, the doctors, health care workers as well as the authorities operating large medical facilities agree on the efficacy of the equipment but had been unable to utilize them right way because the products had not been immediately available.

The Solution

There had been a timeline formulated for each type of connector, however, that compiled with the ISO requirements. With ENFit connectors being mandatory to be used in California, the other states have been steadily phasing out the older devices that had given rise to the problem and controversy in the first place. The availability of the transition connector had certainly made things considerably easier until and unless the ENFit female connectors as well as the administration sets could be sourced. The system also warrants a specialized enteral syringe that is of paramount importance while feeding a patient, supplying medication and for flushing of specific organs of the body.

The Luer tipped syringes have all but become redundant today with none of them being capable for fitting into the ENFit system. Both the enteral feeding tubes as well as the syringes were distributed to the dealers and distributors of medical equipment during 2015 with specific devices reaching the vendors in quarterly phases.

The Issues

The going was not entirely smooth though. However, certain teething problems had been anticipated with most manufacturers being able to come up with innovative and effective solutions. There are now bottle adapters, straws and specifically designed syringe caps for use with ENFit devices.

Ensuring oral enteral medication delivery can be done with the aid of small syringes and other devices utilizing the same techniques that had been in place for years. However, the prospect of depending entirely on ENFit syringes is fraught with problems, however. Many health care workers are indeed perplexed at having to alternate between feeding tubes and medicine administration syringes for patients who are unable to swallow.