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Published in: Intensive Care Medicine 11/2005

01-11-2005 | Brief Report

Sonography as an alternative to radiography for nasogastric feeding tube location

Authors: Cécile Vigneau, Jean-Luc Baudel, Bertrand Guidet, Georges Offenstadt, Eric Maury

Published in: Intensive Care Medicine | Issue 11/2005

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate bedside sonographic confirmation of weighted-tip nasogastric feeding tube position, by comparison to radiography.

Design and setting

Single-center, double-blind prospective study in a 14-bed medical intensive care unit (ICU) in a 780-bed teaching hospital.

Patients

Thirty-three ICU patients undergoing nasogastric tube insertion for enteral feeding.

Interventions

The tip of the nasogastric tube was located both by sonography and standard radiography.

Measurements and results

The accuracy and procedure times of sonography and radiography for nasogastric tube tip location were compared during 35 procedures in 33 patients. The nasogastric tube tip was visualized by sonography in 34 of 35 procedures (sensitivity 97%) and by radiography in all procedures. The median length of the entire procedure was 24 min and 180 min with sonography and radiography, respectively.

Conclusions

Bedside sonography performed by nonradiologists is a sensitive method for confirming the position of weighted-tip feeding nasogastric feeding tubes. It is more rapid than conventional radiography and can easily be taught to ICU physicians. Conventional radiography could be reserved for cases in which sonography is inconclusive
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Metadata
Title
Sonography as an alternative to radiography for nasogastric feeding tube location
Authors
Cécile Vigneau
Jean-Luc Baudel
Bertrand Guidet
Georges Offenstadt
Eric Maury
Publication date
01-11-2005
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Intensive Care Medicine / Issue 11/2005
Print ISSN: 0342-4642
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1238
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-005-2791-1

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