Orogastric Tube Use in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery, A Pilot Study

This pilot study investigated the potential impact of using orogastric tube (OGT) on the immediate post- operative outcomes in adult patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft procedures.

A prospective non-blinded randomised study.

At a single University Hospital.

Seventy-eight consecutive adult patients that underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery were included.

Thirty-nine patients received an OGT, and thirty-nine patients did not (control group).

Primary outcomes included: the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting, opiate use for pain, prolonged ventilation, and gastric dilatation on x-ray. Secondary outcomes included: the incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebral events, major respiratory, gastrointestinal, and renal complications, and total hospital length of stay.

There were non-significant trends towards higher incidence of post-operative nausea (n=2/39; 5.1%; p=0.156) and vomiting (n=1/39; 2.6%, p=0.314) in the OGT group compared to the non-OGT group (n = 0). There was a significant increase in opiates use for pain in the OGT group (n = 13/39; 33.3%) compared to the non-OGT group (n = 3/39, 7.7%) (p=0.0054), indicating that OGT may contribute to the development of postoperative pain or discomfort. There was no difference in the incidence of major postoperative outcomes.

In this pilot study, the use of OGT did not impact the immediate postoperative outcomes after coronary artery bypass surgery. However, it was significantly associated with higher use of opiates in these patients.