Prophylactic Nasogastric Decompression for Routine Gastrectomy

Objective: To determine the necessity of using nasogastric tubes for patients with gastrectomy. Study Design: A non-randomized controlled trial with two arms. Place and Duration of Study: Sichuan Provincial Peoples' Hospital, China, from February 2012 to January 2014. Methodology: One hundred and twenty one patients undergoing gastrectomy were assigned into intubation group and control group based on patient's own will. The intubation group was intubated with a nasogastric tube before operation and extubated at the earliest evidence of passed flatus. Clinical outcomes, such as operation time, bleeding volume, time to passage of flatus, postoperative complications, and length of stay were recorded and compared between the two groups along with patient characteristics. Results: The two groups did not differ in patient characteristics with similar distribution of gender, age, diagnosis, tumor location and operation type. Nasogastric intubation before surgery was not associated with statistically significant difference in total surgery duration, bleeding volume of operation or postoperative complications. In addition, patients without nasogastric tubes resumed oral diet earlier (52.5 ± 14.1 vs.18.4 ± 2.0 hours, p < 0.05) and had shorter time to first passage of flatus (43.8 ± 11.2 vs. 49.0 ± 13.3 hours, p=0.02). Conclusion: It is safe to give up nasogastric intubation for patients undergoing elective gastrectomy and may even result in a better patient outcome.