nasogastric tube
Meaning of nasogastric tube: A soft tube threaded through the nose down into the stomach, used to feed, to give medicine, or to drain.
Definition of nasogastric tube
A nasogastric tube is a thin flexible tube passed through a nostril, down the back of the throat and the esophagus, and into the stomach. It carries liquid feed, fluids or medicine in, and it can drain stomach contents out when the gut is blocked or has stopped moving. It is intended for short term use rather than as a permanent arrangement.
What is it used for?
| Purpose | Detail |
|---|---|
| Feeding | Delivering enteral nutrition when swallowing is unsafe or intake is too low |
| Medicine | Giving liquid drugs when tablets cannot be swallowed |
| Drainage | Emptying the stomach in bowel obstruction, or after certain operations |
| Relieving pressure | Stopping a distended stomach from pushing on the lungs or spilling upward |
How is the position checked?
A tube pushed down the throat can enter the windpipe instead of the esophagus, and feed delivered into a lung is a serious event. Position is therefore confirmed before anything is given. Fluid is drawn back through the tube and tested with pH paper, since stomach contents are strongly acidic and lung fluid is not. Where no fluid can be obtained, or where acid-reducing medicines make the test unreliable, an x-ray settles it. Listening over the stomach while air is pushed in was once common and is no longer accepted, because a tube in the airway can produce the same sound.
How does it compare with a tube through the skin?
The choice turns on how long feeding is expected to continue. A nasal tube goes in at the bedside, needs no procedure, and can be removed as easily. Against that, it irritates the nose and throat, is visible, and is displaced readily by coughing or by a confused person pulling at it. A gastrostomy tube passes through the abdominal wall straight into the stomach. It requires a procedure to place, but it is comfortable, hidden under clothing and stable, which suits feeding that will continue for months.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
A nasogastric tube was placed on free drainage to decompress the stomach before surgery.
Good to know
A misplaced tube can enter the airway rather than the esophagus, so position is confirmed by testing the acidity of aspirated fluid or by x-ray, and listening over the stomach while injecting air is not a reliable check.
Word origin
Where “nasogastric tube” comes from
Nasogastric joins the Latin nasus, meaning nose, with the Greek gaster, meaning stomach.