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].