Prospective, Randomized Evaluation of Early Removal of Nasogastric Tubes in Postceliotomy Trauma Patients

The objective of this study is to compare early (24-hour) removal of nasogastric tubes (NGTs) in trauma patients who have undergone emergency celiotomy to removal based on clinical signs of return of bowel function. All trauma patients who underwent an emergency celiotomy between November 1994 and August 1997 were randomized to 24-hour NGT removal, or removal when flatus and decreased NG output indicated. Exclusion criteria included patients with duodenal or esophageal injuries, those with airway intubations that were >24 hours, or those who had undergone same-hospitalization repeat celiotomy. Gastric or severity of intestinal injury were not exclusion criteria. Failure of NGT removal was defined as pain, abdominal distention, and vomiting. Mechanisms of injury, Injury Severity Score, operative findings, NGT removal times, morbidity, laboratory data, and reasons for failure were evaluated. A total of 177 patients qualified for the study. Two patients were inappropriately randomized and subsequently excluded. Of the remaining 175 patients, 151 sustained penetrating injuries and 24 sustained blunt injuries. Of the 151 patients in the penetrating injury group, 68 were randomized to the 24-hour pull (study) group and 83 were randomized to the clinical pull (control) group. There were three failures in the study group [3 of 68 patients (4.4%)] and three failures in the control group [3 of 83 patients (3.6%)]. Of the 24 blunt injury patients, 10 were randomized to the study group and 14 were randomized to the control group. There was one failure in the study group [1 of 10 patients (10.0%)] and one failure in the control group [1 of 14 patients (7.1%)]. Overall failure rate for the study group was 5.1 per cent [(3+l)/(68+10) = 5.1%] versus 4.1 per cent for the control group. Overall failure for all patients in the study was 4.6 per cent. Injury severity score, morbidity, and lab values were not significantly different. It is safe to remove NGTs at 24 hours in most trauma patients regardless of the severity of injury (failure rate, 5.1%). The surgical dogma of the need to have an NGT in longer for blunt trauma was not revealed in this study, however, a larger study would be needed to determine this with significance.