Gastric Tube Placement in Difficult Cases: An Extensive review of the Aternative Methods

Abstract

Gastric tube placement for enteral feeding and gastric drainage is very commonly performed procedure in the ICU. The placement may sometimes be difficult or impossible in intubated and paralyzed patients due to impaction and/or coiling in the mouth. The recognition of the site/s of impaction and methods to overcome them have been described variously in literature with different degrees of success. Knowledge and practice of these alternative methods can be sometimes of great help particularly while facing difficulty

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