Ultrasonography for nasogastric tube placement verification: an additional reference

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Gastroenterology
• Community Nursing

Background:

• Nasogastric tube (NGT) insertion is common in home care.
• Verifying correct NGT placement is challenging with traditional methods.
• Limitations exist for conventional NGT verification techniques in community settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) for NGT placement verification.
• To assess POCUS as a primary method for NGT placement confirmation.
• To determine the validity of the gastric aspirate pH test for NGT placement.

Main Methods:

• Single-centre, retrospective, single-blind study.
• Convenience sample of 68 elderly patients in home settings.
• Comparison of POCUS findings with gastric aspirate pH test results.

Main Results:

• POCUS demonstrated 95.45% sensitivity and 100% specificity.
• Gastric aspirate pH test showed 90.91% sensitivity and 100% specificity.
• POCUS provides accurate NGT imaging, potentially reducing X-ray use.

Conclusions:

• POCUS is an effective tool for verifying NGT placement in community care.
• POCUS can serve as a first-line diagnostic imaging modality.
• POCUS complements pH testing, especially when X-ray is inaccessible.