CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT04331873Updated Oct 31, 2023

Confirming Proper Replacement of Dislodged Gastrostomy Tubes in Pediatric Patients

An interventional study of Ultrasound in Gastrostomy Tube Site Complication and Gastrostomy Complications, sponsored by University of Tennessee. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 0 Years to 21 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-10-31.

Sponsored by University of Tennessee · Not applicable, Interventional, and Diagnostic

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
0 Years to 21 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate if ultrasound can be used effectively to confirm location of gastrostomy tube (G-tube) placement in place of a study in which contrast is flushed through the G-tube and placement is checked with X-ray. A G-tube is a tube inserted through the abdomen and delivers nutrition directly into the stomach.

Read the detailed description

The purpose of this study is to determine if ultrasound is a safe and reliable way to confirm the proper placement of a dislodged gastrostomy tube in a pediatric emergency department.

In the case of emergent replacement of dislodged gastrostomy tubes, the emergency department currently obtains a contrast injection of the gastrostomy tube to confirm proper replacement in patients who recently had gastrostomy surgically placed or those who require dilation/have difficult replacement as per the pediatric surgery protocol. In this study, an ultrasound (US) will be obtained by an US technician to assess if the gastrostomy tube is in the proper location. Once this study has been obtained, the patient will undergo the typical contrast injection of the gastrostomy tube to confirm placement. The sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound to the current gold standard of contrast injection will be compared.

Ultrasound (US) has the benefit of having no radiation exposure for the patient. In patients anticipated to have multiple emergency department visits a year for gastrostomy complications, using ultrasound as opposed to contrast injection may make a significant impact on accumulated radiation exposure.

The patient population will be composed of children ages 0 to 21 years that visit Le Bonheur Children's Hospital Emergency Department (Memphis, TN) for replacement of a dislodge gastrostomy tube who require contrast injection to confirm proper replacement. Once it is determined that imaging is needed to confirm replacement, the patient and legally authorized representative (LAR) will be consented for the study. The determination for contrast injection is made per protocol when gastrostomy was placed within the last 3 months or when a difficult replacement occurs (i.e. one requiring stoma dilation). A procedure checklist will be used for the provider to complete for the procedure that can be used to better evaluate the amount of attempts made to replace the tube and different methods used prior to decision to pursue contrast injection.

The LAR's will be consented for the study once they are in their private exam room in the ER. Consent, and assent when applicable, will be obtained for the study as well as discussion of risks of improper gastrostomy placement and it's risk of infection. However, this will not be deviating from the current standard of care for emergent gastrostomy replacement.

When patient goes to the radiology department, they will have an US performed by US technician who will inject Pedialyte solution through the gastrostomy and visualize fluid entering the stomach in sagittal and transverse views. These ultrasound images will not have any effect on the patient's ER course in real time and will be read by the attending radiologist the following day. Furthermore, the risk of Pedialyte injection into an improperly placed gastrostomy tube has already been discussed with pediatric surgery and radiology and is determined to be of no risk of harm to the patient as any misplaced tube would require confirmation with contrast injection at this point in time. The patient will then have contrast injection performed as per the standard of care to confirm placement and then will return to their ER exam room for further management during their visit based on the results of their contrast injection study.

02

Conditions studied

  • Gastrostomy Tube Site Complication
  • Gastrostomy Complications

Keywords

  • gastrostomy
  • dislodged
03

In context

Lead sponsor

University of Tennessee is the lead sponsor of 139 studies on the registry; 21 are open to participants now.

Of its 7 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 2 (29%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
0 Years to 21 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Dislodged gastrostomy tube requiring contrast injection to confirm proper gastrostomy replacement

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • No ultrasound technician present in hospital
  • Non-functioning ultrasound equipment (e.g. due to hardware issues)
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Diagnostic
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
50 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Ultrasound

    An ultrasound will be obtained to evaluate placement of the gastrostomy tube prior to obtaining the standard contrast injection

    Diagnostic Test: Ultrasound

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testUltrasound

    An ultrasound will be obtained prior to obtaining the standard contrast injection to determine if this imaging modality is equivocal.

    Also known as: US

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Confirmation of gastrostomy tube placement

    Ultrasound will be obtained in addition to contrast injection to determine gastrostomy tube placement

    Time frame: This procedure is brief (<5-10 minutes) and will be performed after gastrostomy tube replacement prior to the patient having the gold standard contrast injection performed before returning to their exam room. This should take no more than one hour

07

Study locations

1 site
  • LeBonheur Children's Hospital
    Memphis, Tennessee 38103, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Dookhoo L, Mahant S, Parra DA, John PR, Amaral JG, Connolly BL. Peritonitis following percutaneous gastrostomy tube insertions in children. Pediatr Radiol. 2016 Sep;46(10):1444-50. doi: 10.1007/s00247-016-3628-5. Epub 2016 May 12. PubMed 27173980 ↗
  • Myatt TC, Medak AJ, Lam SHF. Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound to Guide Pediatric Gastrostomy Tube Replacement in the Emergency Department. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2018 Feb;34(2):145-148. doi: 10.1097/PEC.0000000000001400. PubMed 29346232 ↗
  • Saavedra H, Losek JD, Shanley L, Titus MO. Gastrostomy tube-related complaints in the pediatric emergency department: identifying opportunities for improvement. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2009 Nov;25(11):728-32. doi: 10.1097/PEC.0b013e3181bec847. PubMed 19864965 ↗
  • Showalter CD, Kerrey B, Spellman-Kennebeck S, Timm N. Gastrostomy tube replacement in a pediatric ED: frequency of complications and impact of confirmatory imaging. Am J Emerg Med. 2012 Oct;30(8):1501-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2011.12.014. Epub 2012 Feb 4. PubMed 22306396 ↗
  • Tsujimoto H, Tsujimoto Y, Nakata Y, Akazawa M, Kataoka Y. Ultrasonography for confirmation of gastric tube placement. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017 Apr 17;4(4):CD012083. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD012083.pub2. PubMed 28414415 ↗
  • Wu TS, Leech SJ, Rosenberg M, Huggins C, Papa L. Ultrasound can accurately guide gastrostomy tube replacement and confirm proper tube placement at the bedside. J Emerg Med. 2009 Apr;36(3):280-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2007.11.064. Epub 2008 Jul 9. PubMed 18614327 ↗
  • Zamora IJ, Fallon SC, Orth RC, Kim ME, Brandt ML, Lopez ME, Wesson DE, Rodriguez JR. Overuse of fluoroscopic gastrostomy studies in a children's hospital. J Surg Res. 2014 Aug;190(2):598-603. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2014.05.010. Epub 2014 May 9. PubMed 24909868 ↗
  • Berman L, Hronek C, Raval MV, Browne ML, Snyder CL, Heiss KF, Rangel SJ, Goldin AB, Rothstein DH. Pediatric Gastrostomy Tube Placement: Lessons Learned from High-performing Institutions through Structured Interviews. Pediatr Qual Saf. 2017 Feb 23;2(2):e016. doi: 10.1097/pq9.0000000000000016. eCollection 2017 Mar-Apr. PubMed 30229155 ↗
  • Bhambani S, Phan TH, Brown L, Thorp AW. Replacement of Dislodged Gastrostomy Tubes After Stoma Dilation in the Pediatric Emergency Department. West J Emerg Med. 2017 Jun;18(4):770-774. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2017.3.31796. Epub 2017 Apr 19. PubMed 28611900 ↗
  • Church JT, Speck KE, Jarboe MD. Ultrasound-guided gastrostomy tube placement: A case series. J Pediatr Surg. 2017 Jul;52(7):1210-1214. doi: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2017.03.061. Epub 2017 Apr 2. PubMed 28408076 ↗
  • Chenaitia H, Brun PM, Querellou E, Leyral J, Bessereau J, Aime C, Bouaziz R, Georges A, Louis F; WINFOCUS (World Interactive Network Focused On Critical Ultrasound) Group France. Ultrasound to confirm gastric tube placement in prehospital management. Resuscitation. 2012 Apr;83(4):447-51. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2011.11.035. Epub 2011 Dec 29. PubMed 22209831 ↗
  • Correa JA, Fallon SC, Murphy KM, Victorian VA, Bisset GS, Vasudevan SA, Lopez ME, Brandt ML, Cass DL, Rodriguez JR, Wesson DE, Lee TC. Resource utilization after gastrostomy tube placement: defining areas of improvement for future quality improvement projects. J Pediatr Surg. 2014 Nov;49(11):1598-601. doi: 10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2014.06.015. Epub 2014 Aug 8. PubMed 25475801 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 31, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04331873
Lead sponsor
University of Tennessee
Collaborators
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
Responsible party
Cailin Frank, DO (Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellow, University of Tennessee) — Principal investigator
First posted
Apr 2, 2020
Start date
Aug 1, 2019
Primary completion
Nov 18, 2020
Completion
Feb 1, 2021
Last update
Oct 31, 2023

Study contacts

Rudy A Kink, MD
study director · Le Bonheur Children's Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2023. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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