A SURVEY ON THE ACCURACY OF CAPNOGRAPHY COMPARING TO CHEST XRAY IN NASOGASTRIC TUBE PLACEMENT

Placement of gastric tubes is a common procedure in patients. Blind placement
of the tubes cause inadvertent feeding tube placement into the respiratory tract which can have serious
consequences. Despite the prevalence of gastric tube placement, no reliable and definitive method has
been determined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of capnography to compare with
the accuracy of radiography in detecting the location of gastric tubes.
Materials & Methods: In this prospective observational study (process research) 85 eligible patients
were randomly selected in a convenience sample. The study was done in 2 parts, first it was done by
evaluating the accuracy of capnography in detecting tracheal positioning in a control group of 10
consecutive patients receiving mechanically ventilated patients, then, all placements utilized a twostep radiographic method. Capnography was added to the procedure. Data analysis was performed
using statistical software spss 16.
Results: Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of
capnography to distinguish between gastric and respiratory tube placement was 100%.
Conclusion: Capnography accurately identified all intratracheal feeding tube placements. Applying
capnography would significantly save time and costs. Capnography should be considered as a routine
method in placing feeding tubes to improve patient safety