Linda

DOES SIZE MATTER?

Perhaps not in Urology but in Interventional Radiology, the answer is YES. While the difference between a 12 and 14 FR PEG tube seems very small, the impact is large. The smaller the tube, the slower the feed and the longer time it takes to finish a can of nutrient. A patient on six cans daily of Jevity 1.5, will be tethered to a gravity feed with a 12 FR FOR AN HOUR A DAY LONGER than if he were on a 14 FR. The average increase is ten minutes a can longer with a smaller 12 FR. Additionally, some denser cans that have over 500 calories a piece will not even go down a 12 FR tube without clogging but require a 14 FR as a minimum for gravity feed.

TECHNICAL EXPLICATION. .
Each unit of French size = 0.33 mm, so a FR 12 rounds to 4 mm while a 14 FR rounds to 5mm. French size refers to the *outer* diameter, not the inner diameter which determines the rate of flow. Due to tubing wall thickness, the inner diameter is always smaller than the FR measurements.
In American measurements, a 12 French has the outside diameter of a 5/32" drill bit but an inside diameter of only a 3/32" drill bit. When you do the math, the smaller 12 FR tube has only 75% of the 14 FR�s volume capacity to transport nutrients.

I have had a 12 Fr, a 14FR and just got a 16FR PEG three days ago. If Carol is using anything besides the canned food, she needs at least a 14FR but my new 16FR is much much better.

Also, this time I got a PEG tube made by Mic-Key which has a silicon ballon to hold in the PEG instead of the stitches used on the Wills-Olgesby or Mallinckrodt and it is much more comfortable. It even comes with a little plastic protector that you can put antibiotic cream under and not have to worry about staining clothes. In the oftchance that you are offered a "button" or flat panel. Stick with the PEG tube for now as it turns out the "button" which all the Gtube listsev people love actually has a very small valve (anti-reflux) which clogs more easily.
Charm