A review of chyme reinfusion: new tech solutions for age old problems

High-output double enterostomies (DES) and enteroatmospheric fistulae (EAF) are associated with significant morbidity, including infection, malnutrition, and prolonged hospital admissions. Management is complex and has remained a challenging surgical problem for many decades in both adult and paediatric patient populations. Chyme reinfusion (CR) from the proximal to distal DES or EAF limb is a potential therapeutic solution which has been shown to be safe and beneficial; however, early methods have involved the manual handling of chyme, which is labour intensive and poorly tolerated by both patients and staff. Over the past four decades, there has been growing interest in the application and development of medical device technology to improve the effectiveness and user-friendliness of CR. New Zealand (NZ) has been at the forefront of innovation in this field, with exciting translational research projects in both adults and neonates (funded and enabled by the NZ MedTech CORE). This narrative review provides a summary of the evolution of CR technology globally, synthesises the extant clinical evidence and highlights future directions.