In a hospital environment it is frequently necessary to relieve fluid accumulations from a patient's internal body cavities. This is typically done by a naso-gastric tube which is inserted through the patient's nasal passages and into the patient's stomach. If the patient is confined to bed the tube is connected to a suction system which continually draws fluid outward through the tube and passes it through a drainage system to a collection point. Such a suction system is often constructed as a built-in fixture into each hospital room so that it may be made conveniently available for any patient needing it. During periods of patient transport or ambulation the naso-gastric tube is frequently left inside the patient, but disconnected from the suction source, and the end of the tube is clamped to prevent leakage. If the patient is transported with the tube clamped for very long, there is always the risk and possibility of aspiration due to the clamping of the naso-gastric tube. The clamping may lead to the patient regurgitating around the naso-gastric tube resulting in gastric fluids entering the patient's lungs, and subsequent pneumonia symptoms. For seriously ill patients, aspiration can result in increased morbidity or death due to complications such as these, and it is therefore extremely important to use careful judgment whenever a naso-gastric tube is clamped.
A preferable and alternate procedure to the foregoing involves disconnecting the naso-gastric tube from the suction source and immediately placing it into a collection reservoir whereby gastric fluids may continually drain regardless of the patient's movement. This has been inconvenient to accomplish, however, for the transport of a seriously ill patient usually involves the corresponding transport of a significant quantity of medical paraphernalia attached to the patient. The addition of yet another medical device further complicates the total transport problem, and as a result the naso-gastric tube is usually clamped.