Factors affecting nasogastric tube insertion

Abstract

This study examines the effects of a patient's level of consciousness and the degree of nasogastric (NG) tube flexibility on the ease of NG tube insertion in patients who already have an endotracheal tube in place. The sample consisted of 121 patients who were admitted to the respiratory ICU of a large teaching hospital, where they underwent endotracheal intubation and subsequent placement of an NG tube. The number of attempts required for successful placement of each tube was recorded over a 4-month period and the data analyzed using a 2 X 3 factorial design. The 2 independent variables were degree of NG tube flexibility (flexible or rigid) and degree of patient consciousness (conscious, obtunded, or unconscious). The dependent variable was the number of attempted insertions per patient. The degree of NG tube flexibility significantly affected the ease with which the NG tube was inserted; the rigid tube required fewer insertion attempts than the flexible tube. The differences among levels of patient consciousness were not statistically significant, but there was a relatively strong, statistically significant interaction between the degree of tube flexibility and level of patient consciousness.