Ultrasonography-guided post-pyloric feeding tube insertion in medical intensive care unit patients

In this study, we investigated placement rate, complication rate and time spent of successful post-pyloric enteral feeding (PPEF) tube insertion procedure guided by ultrasonography (USG). The patients who required enteral nutrition and who admitted to medical intensive care unit (MICU) of Gazi University Hospital were included to this single-center, prospective, cohort study. It was aimed to insert the enteral feeding tube into the proximal duodenum as the post-pyloric area by ultrasonography guidance. During the PPEF tube insertion procedure, the linear probe was used to display the proximal esophagus and the convex probe was used to display the post-pyloric area, antrum and pyloric channel. 33 patients were included in this study. The median age was 68 [IQR 52–79] years. There were 17 (51.5%) woman and 22 (66.7%) intubated patients. The enteral feeding tube was successfully passed into the post-pyloric area in 29 (87.9%) patients with this technique. The median time of successful feeding tube insertion was 14 [IQR 10–25] min. The median level of the enteral feeding tube was 74 [IQR 70–76] cm. in successful placement. There was no significant difference in insertion time according to gender (female vs male; 10 [IQR 8–20] min. vs 17 [IQR 12–25] min., p = 0.052) and endotracheal intubation status (intubated vs non-intubated; 14 [IQR 10–25] min. vs 12 [IQR 10–25] min., p = 0.985). Only one complication was seen during study (self-limiting epistaxis in one patient). PPEF tube insertion under USG guidance could ensure the initiation of enteral feeding safely and rapidly without exposure to radiation in ICU patients.