Entanglement of Nasogastric Tube and Nasopharyngeal Temperature Probe During Surgery

Abstract

Nasogastric tube (NGT) insertion and nasopharyngeal temperature probe (NTP) insertion are routine procedures in patients scheduled for gastric pull or colonic pull surgeries for corrosive esophageal strictures. Although intra-gastric and intra-esophgeal knotting of NGT is described in the literature, there is no report of entanglement of NTP with the NGT in a knot in the nasopharynx. We report entanglement of NGT and NTP in a 17-year-old female scheduled for gastric pull-up surgery and discuss the possible causes and preventive measures. The preventive measures discussed may improve patient safety and quality of care by preventing misplacements of NGT and NTP which can cause such entanglement.

Keywords

• Corrosive esophageal stricture
• entanglement
• nasogastric tube
• nasopharyngeal temperature probe