The hydrophobicity and roughness of a nasoenteral tube surface influences the adhesion of a multi-drug resistant strain of staphylococcus aureus

Abstract

In this study, we examined the physiochemical properties of nasoenteral feeding tubes made from twodifferent types of polymer: silicone materials and polyurethane. The internal surfaces of the nasoenteralfeeding tubes were analyzed for their hydrophobicity, roughness, microtopography, rupture-tension andability to stretch. We also studied the adhesion of an isolated, multi-drug resistant strain of S. aureus to thesepolymers. The polyurethane nasoenteral tube, which was classified as hydrophilic, was more resistant torupture-tension and stretching tests than the silicone tube, which was classified as hydrophobic.Additionally, the polyurethane tube had a rougher surface than the silicone tube. Approximately 1.0 logCFU.cm-2 of S. aureus cells adhered to the tubes and this number was not statistically different between the wo types of surfaces (p > 0.05). In future studies, new polymers for nasoenteral feeding tubes should betested for their ability to support bacterial growth. Bacterial adhesion to these polymers can easily bereduced through modification of the polymer's physicochemical surface characteristics.