Securi-T USA 1pc Extended Wear Ostomy Appliance: REVIEW

When you’re paying for ostomy supplies out-of-pocket, every dollar counts.

Finding low-cost ostomy appliances isn’t an easy task, but there is one company out of the US that offers a wide range of affordable ostomy products.

In this review, I’ll be looking at the extended wear one-piece appliance from Securi-T USA. I purchased the products used in this review from a local supplier.

Video Review

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About the Securi-T 1pc Extended Wear Appliance

The appliance I used for this review:

Securi-T USA claims to be the fourth-largest manufacturer of ostomy supplies in the USA, and their website says that they’ve been around for two decades.

Longevity and manufacturing muscle are qualities you want in a company making medical supplies. Unfortunately, I can’t find any “About Us” page to see the history of the company, which I find a little odd.

Regardless, Securi-T USA does offer a huge range of ostomy supplies that most would consider far more affordable than premium brands.

Inside the box, you do get instructions, a stoma measuring guide (which not all manufacturers supply), the appliances, and a plastic closure clip.

Wafer

Because this is a one-piece appliance, the wafer is already attached to the bag. One-piece systems tend to be less expensive than two-piece appliances, and they have other benefits (and weaknesses) which I’ve discussed in THIS article.

It’s a basic, flat hydrocolloid wafer with full adhesive across the back. I’d describe this wafer as being semi-ridged; It does offer some flexibility, but nowhere near what you’d get with a tape-border wafer or the Sensura Mio products.

FYI: Securi-T also offers convex one-piece systems.

Hydrocolloid wafers, including this one, tend to be a few millimeters thick, but this wafer doesn’t taper off towards the edge like a tape-border wafer would.

This particular appliance features an extended wear wafer, which should be more resistant to aggressive output (like the type of output an ileostomate would have). Most extended wear products should be able to get you at least three days of wear, but some people might get much longer.

There is a release liner on the wafer with a printed cutting guide on it. I can appreciate the cutting guide since not all manufacturers have them printed on the back, but there’s something odd about the cutting guide on this product. Have a look below.

Yeah, it’s not the easiest to read because of how the numbers are rotated, but it does still serve its purpose.

The wafer is easy to cut with any pair of ostomy scissors (I recommend THESE), and it doesn’t leave a very sharp edge to it, either.

Pouch

The pouch on this system is basic but functional. Because it’s a 1pc, it’s also very thin.

The front of the pouch features an opaque plastic front without a fabric cover. This does help to conceal the contents of the bag, but it’s still noticeable and I tend to wear pouch covers over it.

Some people dislike pouches that are loud when they move, and these are about average. I’d also say that the thickness of the plastic used for these pouches is also average, which is nice to see as I expected them to be super-thin for their price.

On the back of the pouch is also opaque with the same plastic used on the front, but it also has a fabric cover over it.

The fabric on the back prevents the pouch from sticking to your skin and makes it more comfortable to wear overall. It’s not the best fabric material I’ve seen, but it’s certainly not the worst and shouldn’t fall apart like other brands I’ve used.

There is no filter on the top of this pouch, but Securi-T does offer pouches with filters on them (although, the product may differ from the one in this review).

Closure

As I would expect in any budget product, these pouches require a clip to secure the outlet at the bottom of the bag.

You do get one curved plastic clip in the box, however, you may want to order extra or even purchase a third-party clip that’s better quality.

The included clip is easy to use, but I would strongly advise that you keep an extra with you since the hinge section is made of a very thin plastic and could wear down and break with repeated use.

There’s a locking mechanism on the clip which secures it shut. This lock works, but it’s not the most secure I’ve seen.

Clip closures may not be for everyone, and there are some strengths and weaknesses to using them. These mostly boil down to personal preference.

Outlet

The outlet itself is very basic and doesn’t have any materials to stiffen it so it can be opened and cleaned more easily.

Despite being a common outlet design for pouches that use clip closures, I find it difficult to clean and it often takes me much longer to drain and clean my pouch as it would with other systems.

One thing to note about this outlet is that you can roll it back to make emptying a little easier, which some people may prefer. This isn’t possible to do with Velcro or Velcro-like closures you’ll find on other brands.

My Experience

My objective when trying these pouches was to see if they would be comfortable and functional for everyday use.

Because I pay for supplies out-of-pocket (with some help of private insurance), I wanted to see if these could be a practical, low-cost alternative to the appliances I’ve worn before.

For the most part, this appliance has been comfortable to wear, but I don’t like the clip closure.

I find the clip to be bulky at times and it would get caught on things quite easily. A pouch cover solved that problem, but not everyone uses one.

In times where fewer clothes are being worn (i.e. when you’re naked!), the clip becomes even more of an annoyance, and I found myself being quite anxious about having it pull on various private parts.

I’ve had no real trouble with everyday activities such as sitting, driving, walking, doing chores around the house, running errands, etc.

If this was all I did, then I may not have too many issues with it.

Unfortunately, I ran into consistent problems with the wafer buckling up and wrinkling, which ultimately resulted in overnight leaks.

As you can see, wrinkles started to develop around and under the wafer, which created a channel for stool to travel through.

I had experienced similar issues “wafer wrinkle” while using the B. Braun Flexima 3S, however, I wasn’t running into leaks using that system.

This problem could very well depend on the shape of your abdomen. In my case, the area around my stoma is rounded, so I find that tape border wafers conform best to my shape.

If you have a flatter stomach, then it’s possible that this issue may not even come up.

Sometimes, this can simply be a matter of making sure that heat and pressure is applied to the wafer when the appliance is being changed. This is something I always do, but even with extended heat and pressure (more than five minutes), the edges would still wrinkle and lift.

A wafer extender might help if wrinkling is a problem, although it would completely erase any cost savings you might be hoping to gain by using this appliance.

In addition to this wrinkling problem, I also noticed that showers would cause a lot of problems around the edges of the wafer. This made it difficult to have showers every day or other day and I would be really hesitant to have a bath or swim while wearing this appliance.

As far as wear time is concerned, I couldn’t get more than two days of wear before I experienced leaks while sleeping. This is a huge letdown as I expected to at least be able to wear it consistently for three days.

And finally, when it came time to remove this appliance, it would leave chunks on my skin that was frustrating to have to remove – I almost never see this happening with other products.

Conclusion

At the time of this writing (Sept 2017), a box of 10 pouches sell for approx. $36 in Canadian dollars and less than $30 US.

By comparison, the Hollister 1pc Premier goes for about $56 Canadian and Coloplast Sensura Mio 1pc systems sell for approx. $61 Canadian.

You can request samples from Securi-T, and I suggest that you do before committing to a full box of these.

It’s not clear whether these are sold internationally or only in North America, but I know they can be purchased quite easily in both the United States and Canada.

This appliance obviously failed me, and it would be difficult for me to recommend it to others based on my experience.

Because cost is the main feature of this system, it would have to perform consistently for at least as long as other products do, and I’m just not getting that here.

Even if this product was getting you a decent number of days between changes, you’d still have to be cautious of the edges while getting wet. Relying on a wafer extender would cancel out the cost benefits of using this appliance in the first place.

Of course, like with any ostomy product out there, my experience may not reflect yours, so always sample before coming to a conclusion.