ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the duration for silicon gastric tube to indwell in stomach of aged patients.Methods One hundred elderly patients needing long-term nutrition support were equally randomized into two groups: control group and observation group.The former had the gastric tubes indwelled in the stomach for 4 weeks and the latter for 3 weeks.The two groups were compared about the used tubes in terms of the color of tube at the length of the first 10cm,the indentation by reflection for 10 seconds at the tube of first 10 cm,the hardness of the tube at the length of the first 10 cm and the springback angle of tube at the first 10cm after reflection.Results The tubes in the observation group were significantly better than those in the control group in terms of color,indentation,hardness and springback angle(all P<0?01).Conclusion The duration of indwelling silicon gastric tubes in stomach can be three weeks for old patients needing long-term nutrition support via indwelling silicon tubes in their stomach.