7 Types of Medical Rubber Tubing For Medical Use

29 November 21

What is medical rubber tubing access?

The medical rubber tubing access allows the provision of medication, hydration, blood components and nutrients quickly to patients, directly in the bloodstream. Therefore, it is one of the main ways of administering these substances in a hospital environment.

Moreover, given its importance in patient care, the physician must deeply know the main indications, the correct form of execution and the care inherent in the procedure.

Types of medical rubber tubing

It can divide into two main modalities:

• Firstly, central rubber tubing access
• Secondly, peripheral rubber tubing access

Each of them has its specifics and indications, which will discuss below.

Peripheral rubber tubing access

The peripheral rubber tubing access is more common than the core. Moreover, medical rubber tubing is widely used in the administration of blood transfusions, medications and fluids. It is generally the easiest and fastest way to obtain rubber tubing access.

Furthermore, to perform it, it is necessary to puncture a superficial peripheral vein, especially in the forearm and back of the hand. At this point, a catheter place, which couple to an adapter, whose function is to connect to syringes and equipment.

When placing the catheter, or even while maintaining this access, some complications may occur, such as:

• Bruises
• Nerve, tendon or ligament damage
• Phlebitis
• Thrombophlebitis
• Infiltration

Mechanical properties of medical rubber tubing

Medical rubber tubing is an elastomer with the best low temperature flexibility and heat resistance. Their effective operating temperature range is -51 o C to 232 o C. Fluorosilicone has an effective operating temperature range of -73 o C to 190 o C.

• Electrical insulating properties

Rubber tubing has good electrical insulating properties, which stands out from most other elastomers. The decomposition product of carbon elastomers is conductive black coal, while the decomposition product of rubber tubing is insulating silicone dioxide.

• Abrasion resistance

Rubber tubing has poor abrasion resistance, tensile strength and tear strength, but they maintain these mechanical properties at high temperatures much better than other rubbers. Good resistance to residual strain after compression and good bounce at both low and high temperatures. Good fire resistance.

• High air permeability

Medical rubber tubing has high air permeability due to high chain mobility. Air permeability tends to decrease with increasing polymer curing density, increasing filler level. In general, polydimethylsiloxane grade rubber tubing has 25 times higher oxygen permeability than natural rubber, and 429 times higher than butyl rubber.

• Good biocompatibility

Rubber tubing has good biocompatibility, no effect on body tissue. In addition, rubber tubing has a lower surface energy value than most organic rubbers. As a result, silicones exhibit very good separability, which enables their use in many food processing processes and in the production of thermoplastic polymer films.

Furthermore, high heat resistance combined with separability, physiological inert properties make medical rubber tubing a good choice for oven trays and dishes and other indoor applications.

Application of medical rubber tubing

Rubber tubing is widely used in many applications such as pharmaceutical, medical, wire and cable, automotive and aerospace applications where the very good inert properties of silicone are required.

What is medical rubber tubing?

Rubber tubing is a thin tube usually made of a soft, flexible plastic. This medical device use to drain fluids that can introduce or withdrawn from the body.

Further, due to the large number of possible uses for this type of device, there are different types of medical rubber tubing according to different medical societies.

What is medical rubber tubing used for?

Urinary rubber tubing use to drain urine from the bladder in patients who have trouble urinating or have poor bladder control.

Tubing can also bring into the heart through an artery or vein to diagnose or treat certain heart conditions. Cardiac catheterization, for example, can use for the following diagnoses:

• Firstly, lookfor heart valve problems
• Secondly, angiogram  (locating narrowing or blockage of blood vessels that can cause chest pain)
• Thirdly, measure blood pressure and oxygen levels in the heart
• Then, perform a  biopsy  by removing a sample of tissue from the heart
• Finley, diagnose congenital heart defects

How medical rubber tubing is useful during dialysis?

Medical rubber tubing use to deliver medications. Fluids go directly into the blood or to measure blood pressure in an artery.

They can also be connected to a dialysis machine to filter waste materials from the blood if the kidneys are not working.

What are the types of tubing?

• Intermittent tubing:

These are temporary tubing that is inserted several times a day to drain the bladder through the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body).

• Permanent tubing:

These are long-term tubing that remains in the urethra for days or weeks, held in place by an inflated balloon at the end of the bladder. Urine drain into a bag attached to the patient’s leg or bed while they sleep. .

• Subrapubic tubing:

This type of catheter insert into the bladder through a hole below the navel instead of the urethra. The procedure to install it can perform under general, local or epidural anesthesia. It is usually done when the urethra damage or block.

• Peripheral rubber tubing catheter:

It is the simplest and least expensive of all the medical rubber tubing, it is a short-lived intra rubber tubing line that insert into a vein in the hand, forearm or foot, and must replace by a nurse every few days.

• Central rubber tubing catheter:

It insert into an arm, leg, neck, or chest to connect to a vena cava that leads to the heart. Central rubber tubing tubing is used to administer medications to long-term hospital patients who may stay for months or years.

• Cardiac catheter:

These are long tubing that are inserted through veins or arteries and advanced through these blood vessels until they reach the heart. Its use can useful in achieving diagnosis or treatment, in the placement of stents or for the ablation of cardiac tissue.