Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 21, 2016; 22(15): 4057-4061
Published online Apr 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i15.4057
Nasogastric tube syndrome induced by an indwelling long intestinal tube
Naoki Sano, Masayoshi Yamamoto, Kentaro Nagai, Keiichi Yamada, Nobuhiro Ohkohchi
Naoki Sano, Masayoshi Yamamoto, Kentaro Nagai, Keiichi Yamada, Department of Surgery, Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, Ibaraki 305-8558, Japan
Naoki Sano, Nobuhiro Ohkohchi, Department of Surgery and Organ Transplantation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan
Author contributions: Sano N, Yamamoto M and Ohkohchi N designed the report; Sano N, Nagai K and Yamada K collected the patient’s clinical data; Sano N, Yamamoto M and Ohkohchi N wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: This case report was reviewed and approved by the University of Tsukuba Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Nobuhiro Ohkohchi, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Surgery and Organ Transplantation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan. nokochi3@md.tsukuba.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-29-8533221 Fax: +81-29-8533222
Received: August 27, 2015
Peer-review started: August 31, 2015
First decision: September 29, 2015
Revised: October 14, 2015
Accepted: December 30, 2015
Article in press: December 30, 2015
Published online: April 21, 2016
Processing time: 220 Days and 1.8 Hours
Abstract

The nasogastric tube (NGT) has become a frequently used device to alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms. Nasogastric tube syndrome (NTS) is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening complication of an indwelling NGT. NTS is characterized by acute upper airway obstruction due to bilateral vocal cord paralysis. We report a case of a 76-year-old man with NTS, induced by an indwelling long intestinal tube. He was admitted to our hospital for treatment of sigmoid colon cancer. He underwent sigmoidectomy to release a bowel obstruction, and had a long intestinal tube inserted to decompress the intestinal tract. He presented acute dyspnea following prolonged intestinal intubation, and bronchoscopy showed bilateral vocal cord paralysis. The NGT was removed immediately, and tracheotomy was performed. The patient was finally discharged in a fully recovered state. NTS be considered in patients complaining of acute upper airway obstruction, not only with a NGT inserted but also with a long intestinal tube.

Keywords: Nasogastric tube syndrome; Nasogastric tube; Long intestinal tube; Acute upper airway obstruction; Tracheotomy

Core tip: Nasogastric tube syndrome (NTS) is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening complication of an indwelling nasogastric tube (NGT). NTS is characterized by acute upper airway obstruction due to bilateral vocal cord paralysis. We report a case of a 76-year-old man with NTS, induced by an indwelling long intestinal tube. He presented acute dyspnea following prolonged intestinal intubation, and bronchoscopy showed bilateral vocal cord paralysis. The NGT was removed immediately, and tracheotomy was performed to establish a safe airway. NTS be considered in patients complaining of acute upper airway obstruction, not only with a NGT inserted but also with a long intestinal tube inserted.