Effect of lower esophageal gastric tube implantation in postoperative enteral nutritional support in patients with laryngeal cancer: A study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: For a long time, postoperative nutritional support for laryngeal cancer patients has depended on the gastric tube for enteral nutrition. Silica gel gastric tube is often used in clinical practice; however, the gastric tube placed in the conventional depth often leads to various complications in the stomach, thus damaging the nutritional status of patients and leading to the poor prognosis. METHODS/DESIGN: A total of 80 patients with laryngeal cancer in otolaryngology, head and neck surgery department of Deyang people's hospital from May 2020 to April 2022 will be selected and randomly divided into control group and experimental group according to the numerical table. Patients in the control group will receive conventional gastric tube placement, with a depth of 45 to 55 cm, which can extract gastric juice. B-ultrasound accurately positioned the gastric tube in the stomach instead of the cardia, and postoperative nasal feeding nutrition will be provided. In the experimental group, the gastric tube will be pulled out 10 cm after conventional placement and no gastric juice will be extracted. B-ultrasonography verified that the gastric tube will be located below the esophagus or above the cardia, and routine nasal feeding will be performed postoperatively. Analysis for comfort and prognosis were performed by general comfort questionnaire and various index including height, body mass index, albumin value, electrolyte, wound healing, pharyngeal fistula. DISCUSSION: In this study, visual simulation scale and general comfort questionnaire developed by Kolaba, an American comfort nursing specialist, were used to evaluate the comfort level of the 2 groups of patients, including pain, acid reflux, upper abdominal burning sensation, and hiccup. Objective indexes such as height, body mass index, albumin value, electrolyte, wound healing, and pharyngeal fistula were used to evaluate the prognosis of the 2 groups of patients. The visual simulation scale can preliminarily judge the subjective feelings of patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: It has been registered at http://www.chictr.org.cn/listbycreater.aspx (Identifier: ChiCTR2000030378), Registered February 29, 2020.