Nasogastric Tube Placement- a Simple Yet Difficult Procedure- a Review (original) (raw)

Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences

BACKGROUND Summary-Despite several novel techniques reported in the literature regarding nasogastric tube placement, no technique has emerged as the most efficient method, especially for unconscious patients. A few of them appears to be achieving higher success rate and considered to be better than the rest. Varied complications have been reported in the literature. We searched for relevant medical literature in English using Google Search Engine. The following Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms were used: Decompression, Intubation, Gastrointestinal; Intubation, Intratracheal, Parenteral Nutrition, Stomach. The search was further extended using related keywords such as 'nasogastric intubation,' 'nasogastric tube insertion,' 'nasogastric tube intubation,' 'nasogastric tube placement.' The full text articles published in 2000 onwards were mainly considered with the exception for some old seminal articles. Primarily, original investigations, editorials, letter to Editor and brief communications were consulted. A few review articles were also taken into consideration. A brief outline about nasogastric tubes, its application, confirmatory tests, their current status with loopholes, different method to increase the objectivity of successful placement of nasogastric tube, etc. have been described. Mostly, a general view regarding this has been presented with a mention about the gray zones.