A preinstalled nasopharyngeal airway in the right nasal passageway to facilitate nasogastric intubation in anesthetized and intubated patients: a prospective randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Nasogastric intubation (NGI) is usually challenging in patients under general anesthesia, with reported success rate at the first attempt to be less than 50%. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a preinstalled nasopharyngeal airway (NPA) in the right nasal passageway can facilitate NGI in anesthetized and intubated patients. METHODS: A prospective randomized controlled trial including 108 patients scheduled for elective intra-abdominal surgeries requiring a nasogastric tube (NGT) was conducted. Fifty-three patients were randomized to receive NGI through a preinstalled NPA in the right nasal passageway (Group NPA) and 55 patients to receive NGI via the right nostril (Group O). The primary outcomes were success rates of NGI at first attempt, success rates of NGI in accumulative attempts, durations of successful NGI at the first attempt and success rates of NGI for the rescuing methods. The secondary outcomes were bleeding incidence and hemodynamic changes induced by NGI. RESULTS: Success rate of NGI at the first attempt was 83.0% in Group NPA compared with 47.3% in Group O [P < 0.001; absolute risk reduction (ARR) = 35.7%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 19.1–52.4%; relative risk reduction (RRR) = 67.8%] and success rate of NGI in accumulative attempts (two attempts maximum) was 88.7% in Group NPA compared with 63.6% in Group O (P = 0.002; ARR = 25.0%, 95% CI = 9.7–40.4%; RRR = 68.9%). Duration for NGI successful at the first attempt in Group NPA was significantly longer than that in Group O (56.3 vs. 27.1 s; P < 0.001; Mean difference = 29.2 s, 95% CI = 20.0–38.4 s). Neither bleeding incidence nor hemodynamic response is significantly different between the two study groups. CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates a preinstalled NPA in the right nasal passageway facilitates NGI in anesthetized and intubated patients as an initial NGI method and as a rescuing method for patients undergoing two unsuccessful initial attempts of NGI without a preinstalled NPA. However, the NPA method proved to take more time than the routine method for NGI successful at the first attempt. Trial registration: The study was conducted after receiving approval from Institutional Review Board of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou branch, Taiwan (registration number 201800138A3; April 11, 2018), and the clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03697642; Principal Investigator: Ting-Yang Huang; Date of registration: October 4, 2018; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/NCT03697642).