Pain and Discomfort
The most commonly reported complications after NGT insertion are pain
and discomfort. In a patient survey conducted in hospitals, both
patients and physicians rated 12 different procedures on a 100-mm visual
analog scale (VAS) for pain caused [47]. Patients reported a VAS of
46.0 for NGT insertion while physicians reported a VAS of 49.9 which
were the highest VAS scores reported for each group. This indicates that
NGT insertion was the most painful procedure in this study compared to
some of the most commonly performed surgical and bedside procedures
[47].
Another complication of NGT use is that NGT insertion can cause
nasopharyngeal discomfort and gagging [48]. Also, knotting of the
NGT can occur as the tube can become coiled in the patient’s stomach,
which may lead to knotting when it is pulled out [49]. This has been
shown to create extreme pain in the nasopharynx once the NGT is removed
[49]. Other complications due to NGT misplacement include mucosal
trauma [50,51], bronchial injury or perforation [51], and
irritative rhinitis and pharyngitis [22,48].