Do Nasogastric Tubes Worsen Swallowing in Stroke Patients?
Author Information
Author(s): Rainer Dziewas, Tobias Warnecke, Christina Hamacher, Stefan Oelenberg, Inga Teismann, Christopher Kraemer, Martin Ritter, Erich B Ringelstein, Wolf R Schaebitz
Primary Institution: Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Münster
Hypothesis
Do nasogastric tubes interfere with swallowing function in patients with acute stroke?
Conclusion
A correctly placed nasogastric tube does not worsen swallowing function in stroke patients.
Supporting Evidence
- A correctly placed NGT did not cause worsening of stroke-related dysphagia.
- Pharyngeal misplacement of the NGT was identified in 5 of 100 patients.
- In all cases of misplacement, dysphagia worsened due to the malpositioned NGT.
Takeaway
This study found that using a feeding tube doesn't make it harder for stroke patients to swallow, as long as the tube is placed correctly.
Methodology
The study included 100 stroke patients to assess NGT misplacement and 25 patients to evaluate the effect of correctly placed NGTs on swallowing.
Potential Biases
Expectation bias could not be fully ruled out due to the nature of the study design.
Limitations
The study did not use a randomized order for testing tube vs. no-tube conditions, which may introduce bias.
Participant Demographics
The study included 66 women and 59 men with an average age of 70 years.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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