A nasogastric tube comprising at least one main lumen and at least one vacuum lumen comprising at least one suction port for sealingly drawing an inner wall of an esophagus thereagainst, said at least one suction port has a unique concave structure which substantially prevents tissue damage is provided.

Ostomy tubes, particularly gastrostomy tubes, with improved retention means are provided. More specifically, retention structures, such as bolsters, for gastrostomy tubes are provided, configured to removably assemble to one end of a gastrostomy tube to facilitate replacement and removal of the tube. The retention structures provided herein may comprise one or more removably assembled retention elements. Further provided are gastrostomy tubes comprising such retention structures, and methods for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy utilizing same.

A nasogastric tube (10) including a main lumen (12) having one or more proximal connectors (14) for connecting to a source of substances or pressure, and one or more vacuum lumens (16) peripherally surrounding the main lumen (12), each vacuum lumen (16) including a vacuum sealing portion (24), which includes one or more suction ports (26) for sealingly drawing an inner wall of an esophagus thereagainst.

The invention provides systems and methods for reducing injury to patients by dislodgement of implanted or attached medical tubing. The inventive systems and methods provide medical tubing with a releasable magnetic connection. When a stretching force is applied to the medical tubing that would cause the implanted or attached portion to be pulled or separated from the patient, the medical tubing instead separates at the point of the releasable magnetic connection, preventing the force from reaching the portion of the tubing implanted in or attached to the patient, thereby reducing the risk of injury to the patient. The releasable magnetic connection allows the tubing to be easily reconnected once the stretching force on the tubing has been terminated.

This invention relates to a transnasal tube assembly comprising a transnasal tube and an integrated tether for anchoring the transnasal tube, wherein the integrated tether is permanently fixed to the transnasal tube at a first fixation point, and wherein the integrated tether is reversibly fixable to the transnasal tube at a second fixation point.

Catheters, catheter ports, connectors, and related methods are disclosed herein, e.g., for drug delivery to a subject. The catheters and catheter ports can include various features to facilitate dosing protocols that require multiple injections, and/or for reducing or eliminating damage that may occur to the catheter, port, or patient tissue as a result of multiple injections.

A system comprising a nasogastric tube comprising a nasogastric location element, a feeding mechanism, a suction mechanism configured to sealingly draw an inner wall of an esophagus against said nasogastric tube, and a gastric decompression mechanism.

An apparatus and method for oral feeding that includes an orally insertable tube for release of fluid into the mouth, i.e. within the buccal cavity, between the cheek and teeth. The apparatus includes a rigid or semi-rigid flat or outwardly curved side for positioning against the teeth and a spongy side for positioning against the cheek. The tube may be connected to a reservoir disposed outside of the mouth. Fluid within the tube may be distributed into the mouth by the feeding tube through the spongy side to provide a distributed flow of fluid into the mouth and to avoid overwhelming the patient's ability to swallow or having a gush of fluid reach the back of the throat of the patient. Fluid flow into the tube may be manually controlled by valve disposed downstream of the reservoir.

The disclosed device, method, and system provide a simple, safe, effective and widely applicable method-device to suction the throat in patients with absence or incompetent swallowing reflexes. For instance, disclosed is a combination enteric feeding and pharyngeal suctioning tube that both pumps food to a patient's stomach while suctioning a patient's throat to remove pharyngeal secretions. The suctioning tube may be an attachment to a feeding tube that terminates just at or above the esophageal opening when connected to the feeding tube. The end of the pharyngeal suctioning tube may include perforations that allow the pharyngeal secretions to be vacuumed into the suctioning portion for removal.

A catheter assembly incorporating a pre-biased indicator, the assembly includes a catheter having a proximal end, a distal end, and catheter walls defining a catheter lumen. The assembly further includes a base located at the proximal end of the catheter, the base defining an opening to the catheter lumen, the base having a first end and a second end. An inflatable balloon having a predetermined fill volume is located at a distal end of the catheter. An inflation valve is located on the base; the inflation valve is in fluid communication with the balloon through an inflation lumen defined by the catheter walls. The pre-biased indicator located on the base in fluid communication with the balloon is configured to provide a discrete visual signal that the pressure of a fluid in the balloon is different from a predetermined level of pressure or the volume of the balloon is different from the predetermined fill volume.