Silastic T tube splints for biliary repair.

Silastic rubber T tubes have been compared with latex rubber T tubes in the biliary system of dogs. It was found that Silastic rubber T tubes evoked a significant foreign body reaction within the biliary system, producing bile salt precipitation and debris. Alarmingly, in these studies in dogs, Silastic rubber T tubes did not cause sufficient intraperitoneal adhesions around the tube to form an intraperitoneal tract walling off the tube from the general peritoneal cavity. Thus, when the Silastic rubber T tube was removed, bile leakage into the peritoneal cavity occurred. Based on studies in dogs, Silastic rubber T tubes should not be used in the clinical situation in which the T tube would be removed postoperatively.