ENFit®: A Safe Way to Connect to Health and Nutrition

Medically Reviewed by Janel Ganz, BSN, RN, Enteral Feeding Specialist

When feeding by mouth is not an option, tube feeding (enteral) is a dependable way to meet your body’s nutritional needs. Thanks to advances in science, medicine, and nutrition tube feeding has become a safe way to help maintain nutritional health.

Despite the benefits of tube feeding, there are some challenges. One major concern is the potential for enteral devices and other medical devices to be connected incorrectly, which is considered a misconnection.¹ For example, when trying to hook up nutrition tubing that is meant to go in a feeding tube, the nutrition tubing could get connected to an IV line instead. The formula that was meant to go to the stomach goes into the bloodstream instead. Errors like this are harmful and can even lead to death.

ENFit® aims to end misconnections

In the past few years, experts developed a worldwide design standard to keep users from making the wrong connections. The standard is called ISO 80369 and it helps improve patient safety by reducing tubing misconnections across several different applications.²

ENFit® is the trademarked name of this design used in enteral feeding devices. ENFit® is used all around the world to make sure only enteral devices can be connected to matching enteral devices.³ Each product used for tube feeding will have an ENFit® connector. These include:

• Extension sets
• Standard-length tubes
• NG/NI tubes
• Syringes
• Feeding sets

IMPORTANT: Low-profile or button-style tubes will not change at all. Only the extension sets that connect to them will have an ENFit® connector to connect with an ENFit® syringe or feeding set.

ENFit® will not disrupt your current routine

ENFit® went through a demanding testing process to make sure it was safe and effective, so switching over should not cause any disruptions to your current routine. Administering nutrition can be achieved the same way it always has, with the slight difference that you will twist connecting ends together instead of pushing them together. This change provides the added benefit of a more secure connection that “locks” in place, which can reduce leaks.

Because the design interlocks, it is important to make sure all caps and connectors are free from nutrition or medicine. When some of these liquids dry, they can make it harder to open the caps. For a refresher on tube maintenance, check out this video.

If you are planning to travel, it is important that you know what to do when you are away from home and have extra supplies with you. Before you leave, ask your doctor or healthcare team what to keep in mind so you can avoid possible disruptions to your feeding routine, especially in an emergency.

ENFit® makes all the difference in the world for patient safety

Designers around the world came together to address tube feeding with one universal system. With ENFit®, every tubie has less risk of misconnection, feeding stays on track and caregivers find it easy to use. ENFit® helps make tube feeding safe.

1. Frequently Asked Questions – Enteral. StayConnected by GEDSA. https://stayconnected.org/frequently-asked-questions/frequently-asked-question-enteral/. Published September 8, 2015. Accessed November 15, 2024. ↩︎
2. ENFit Advocacy Meeting. Stay Connected. ISO80369 White Paper ISO Guideline – Stay Connected® by GEDSA™. Published July 26, 2017. Accessed November 15, 2024. ↩︎
3. Frequently Asked Questions – Enteral. StayConnected by GEDSA. https://stayconnected.org/frequently-asked-questions/frequently-asked-question-enteral/. Published September 8, 2015. Accessed November 15, 2024. ↩︎