Multi-purpose syringe

A multi-purpose neonate feeding syringe for feeding a neonate by gravity or with assistance of a syringe pump having a syringe barrel mounting member and a syringe plunger traversal member, the syringe comprising:

• a syringe plunger cooperatively engageable to the syringe plunger traversal member;
• a barrel defining an output and an entrance, the barrel being sufficiently rigid so that the plunger is slidable within the barrel and capable of forcing enteral fluid out of the output into the neonate when the plunger is traversed in a direction from the entrance to the output of the barrel, the barrel fixedly engagable to the syringe barrel mounting member so that the plunger is pushed into the barrel as the syringe plunger traversal member is traversed toward the syringe barrel, the plunger being removably disposable in the barrel;
• finger tabs disposed adjacent to the entrance of the barrel for assisting a user in depressing the plunger into the barrel;
• a cap attached to the barrel with a hinge and displaceable away from the entrance of the barrel, the cap being pivotable between a closed position wherein the cap seals the entrance of the barrel and an opened position wherein the cap is displaced away from the entrance of the barrel, the cap having an aperture for allowing gas to communicate between the barrel and an environment;
• a hydrophobic filter element disposed over the aperture of the cap for allowing gas to pass therethrough and providing a liquid barrier between the barrel and the environment;
• wherein the plunger is removed from the barrel and the cap is pivoted about the hinge to the closed position for gravity feeding and the plunger is disposed within the barrel and the cap is displaced away from the entrance of the barrel for syringe pump assisted feeding so that the barrel may be used either for gravity feeding or syringe pump assisted feeding.