Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Jul;122(1):276-81.
doi: 10.1378/chest.122.1.276.

Efficacy of dye-stained enteral formula in detecting pulmonary aspiration

Norma A Metheny  1 , Thomas E Dahms, Barbara J Stewart, Kathleen S Stone, Sharon J Edwards, Julie E Defer, Ray E Clouse
Affiliations

Efficacy of dye-stained enteral formula in detecting pulmonary aspiration

Norma A Metheny et al. Chest. 2002 Jul.

Abstract

Study objective: To determine the extent to which a mixture of human gastric juice and enteral formula stained with two concentrations of FD&C Blue No. 1 food dye (0.8 and 1.5 mL/L) is visible in suctioned tracheobronchial secretions following three forced small-volume pulmonary aspirations over a 6-h period in an animal model.

Design: Experimental 2 x 3 repeated measures.

Setting: Animal laboratory and an acute care hospital.

Participants: Ninety New Zealand white rabbits weighing approximately 3 kg each, and 90 acutely ill adults who furnished gastric juice.

Interventions: A mixture of human gastric juice and enteral formula stained with 0.8 or 1.5 mL of dye per liter was instilled intratracheally over a 30-min period into anesthetized intubated animals at baseline, 2 h, and 4 h. A total of 0.4 mL/kg of the mixture was instilled at each session. Ninety minutes after each instillation, suctioned secretions were examined for visible dye and blood.

Measurements and results: Dye was visible in 46.3% of the secretions (125 of 270). The concentration of dye had no significant effect on dye visibility. Blood that was present in 114 of 270 of the secretions (42.2%) interfered with dye visibility in all but two secretions. For reasons unknown, even in the absence of blood, dye visibility decreased from 90.2% (55 of 61 secretions) after the first aspiration event to only 61% (25 of 41 secretions) after the third aspiration event.

Conclusions: Findings from this animal model study do not support the use of the dye method to detect repeated small-volume aspirations. For clinicians who choose to use the dye method in selected situations, it appears that a dye concentration of 0.8 mL/L may be as effective in detecting aspiration as a 1.5 mL/L concentration.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Dye-stained formula. At left is a beaker containing the formula, but no dye. In the center is a beaker containing the formula and FD&C Blue No. 1 dye at a concentration of 0.8 mL/L. At right is a beaker containing the formula and FD&C Blue No. 1 dye at a concentration of 1.5 mL/L.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Guenter P, Silkroski M. Tube feeding: practical guidelines and nursing protocols. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers; 2001. p. 113.
    1. Klodell CT, Carroll M, Carrillo EH, et al. Routine intragastric feeding following traumatic brain injury is safe and well tolerated. Am J Surg. 2000;179:168–171. - PubMed
    1. Rombeau J, Rolandelli R. Clinical nutrition: enteral and tube feeding. 3. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders; 1997. p. 560.
    1. Smeltzer SC, Bare BG. Brunner and Suddarth’s textbook of medical-surgical nursing. Philadelphia, PA: JB Lippincott; 2000. p. 487.
    1. Liu D, McIntyre R, Watters J. Pulmonary aspiration in critically ill patients receiving enteral feedings [abstract] Clin Invest Med. 1993;22(suppl):B19.

Publication types

Substances