TY - JOUR T1 - Tributyrin ester-impregnated pH strips for confirming neonatal feeding tube placement: a diagnostic test accuracy study JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition JO - Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed DO - 10.1136/archdischild-2022-324413 SP - fetalneonatal-2022-324413 AU - Jayanta Banerjee AU - Anna McLister AU - Batia Gourin AU - Zoe McClure AU - Kirupalini Mariampillai AU - Robert J Boyle AU - George B Hanna AU - Melody Z Ni Y1 - 2022/09/29 UR - http://fn.bmj.com/content/early/2022/09/29/archdischild-2022-324413.abstract N2 - Nasogastric (NGT) or orogastric (OGT) tubes are the primary mode of feeding in term born sick infants and preterm infants during the postnatal period. Incorrect tube placement in the respiratory tract can lead to life-threatening aspiration. Following the UK National Patient Safety Agency1 and American Society for parenteral and enteral nutrition (ASPEN)2 guidance, current best practice relies on a pH ≤5.5 of the gastric aspirate to confirm gastric placement and requires a chest radiograph if pH is >5.5.A new pH strip augmented with human gastric lipase (HGL) detection has been developed to improve the sensitivity of gastric tube pH testing (Ingenza, UK) by impregnating standard pH test strips (GBUK Enteral) with 1% tributyrin. In the presence of HGL, produced only in stomach, tributyrin ester is hydrolysed to release butyric acid. If gastric aspirate pH is >5.5, the presence of HGL will help reduce pH to ≤5.5, increasing the sensitivity of the assay. The use of tributyrin ester-mpregnated strips has been validated in adult hospitalised patients,3 but not been evaluated in the neonatal setting, where … ER -