asogastric tube Placement under Sonographic Observation: a comparison study of ultrasound and chest radiograph in mechanically ventilated patients

This study aimed to examine the accuracy of ultrasound for verifying the position of the nasogastric tube in mechanically ventilated intensive care patients. Historically the gold standard of care is chest radiograph, this incurs radiation and necessitates moving the patient which incurs a potential for increased risk of accidental endotracheal, venous and arterial line dislodgement. Patient enrolled will be mechanically ventilated and need a nasogastric tube for the treatment or diagnosis of their admitting illness. The nasogastric could be identified in the neck with ultrasound with 88% sensitivity and in the stomach with 64% sensitivity. Limitations to this study include the sample size of 25 and the absence of true negative for example ultrasound findings of a misplaced nasogastric tube so specificity can not be calculated.