Simplified Preformed Silo Bag Crafted from Standard Equipment in African Hospitals

Silo bags are synthetic, flexible silicone bags used to cover and protect the bowel of neonates born with gastroschisis. They are transparent, which enables clinicians to visualise bowel colour and allows for gentle reduction until closure. Silo bags are expensive, and different sizes are needed depending on the gastroschisis size. Currently, tertiary hospitals in low-income countries experience great difficulty in purchasing these bags. Therefore, in this article, we present a method for creating a preformed silo bag by utilising readily available disposable equipment in secondary or tertiary hospitals. The disposable equipment required includes a 200- or 500-ml saline or blood bag, 16- or 18-Fr silicone/latex Foley catheter, Opsite® and 2-0 silk suture. The saline bag is cut and opened transversely. The Foley catheter is cut corresponding to the diameter of the saline bag opening, and both ends of the catheter piece are connected to each other to create a 'circle', which is used as the base for the opening. The edge of the saline bag is turned inside out around the catheter and then securely closed with a continuous suture, which fixes the folded part of the bag to the catheter. These silo bags are cheap and easily and quickly prepared at any centre in Africa and very similar to manufactured silo bags, which are comparatively costly and difficult to procure in limited-resource environments.