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Removal of Nasogastric Feeding Tube Post Extubation in ICU : a Prospective Randomized Trial

Removal of Nasogastric Feeding Tube Post Extubation in ICU : a Prospective Randomized Trial

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05795569
Acronym
FIRST
Enrollment
112
Registered
2023-04-03
Start date
2023-03-21
Completion date
2025-04-10
Last updated
2025-12-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Deglutition Disorders, Feeding or Eating Disorder, Intensive Care Unit Syndrome, Swallowing Disorder

Brief summary

Post-extubation dysphagia (PED) is a frequent but still underestimated condition in the intensive care units (ICU). In the international literature, the manifestations and consequences of PED lead to intra- and post-intensive care comorbidities. The exact etiology of PED is unknown, but considered multifactorial. Numerous causes, acquired during ICU, can lead to a delay in the reintroduction of intravenous nutrition, or even favor the development of inhalation pneumopathy. One of these causes is the presence of the nasogastric tube. The incidence of ECD varies from 3 to 62%. Its presence impacts morbidity and mortality. Preventive strategies for PED have only been studied with questionable methodologies. The goal of ICU therapists is to detect PED as early as possible in order to implement curative strategies such as adapted nutrition and early swallowing rehabilitation.

Detailed description

There are several tools available to diagnose PED. These assessment methods are numerous and not subject to consensus. There are expensive instrumental methods requiring experts, which allow for accurate diagnosis but cannot be routinely used at the ICU patient's bed. For the ICU patient, bed-side clinical assessments seem more appropriate. The Yale swallow protocol (YSP), is the most used test in the literature. Its sensitivity in predicting PED at 96.5%, a negative predictive value of 97.9% and a false negative rate of less than 2%, seem to make it the most suitable. Currently, no recommendations have been made by French or international ICU societies on the appropriate time or method for PED assessment. Regarding the treatment of PED, the literature shows that physiotherapy management would not significantly reduce its incidence, nor accelerate the resumption of per os feeding. No study has examined the impact of nasogastric tube removal combined with the use of a standardized swallow test on post-extubation ECD. For all these reasons, we plan to evaluate the interventional strategy consisting in removing the nasogastric feeding tube as soon as extubation, to carry out between 1 hour and 6 hours post extubation the Yale swallow protocol, to allow a resumption of feeding as soon as possible while screening the dysphagic patients. The research hypothesis is therefore: Systematic removal of the nasogastric tube during the extubation procedure associated with an early swallow test in the ICU allows an early per-os nutritional resumption in comparison with the classical strategy of nasogastric tube management and swallowing disorders assessment

Interventions

PROCEDURENasogastric Tube removal during extubation

The nurse in charge of the patient and under the cover of a medical prescription, will proceed to the systematic removal of the nasogastric tube during the extubation procedure

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTYale Swallow Protocol

The dysphagia will be evaluated in a systematic way between 1 hour and 6 hours post-extubation with the help of the Yale Swallow Protocol (YSP) by the caregivers trained to the passing of the YSP (nurse or physiotherapist or ICU doctor).

PROCEDUREClassif Nasogastric Tube Management

The removal of the nasogastric tube will not be performed during the extubation procedure and the time of removal will be left to the discretion of the attending physician (as currently performed in the unit).

DIAGNOSTIC_TESTClassic swallowing test

Post-extubation dysphagia will be assessed as we do in the unit. Currently, the caregivers in charge of the patient do a gel water test Nutrisens Hydra'Fruit level 4 when the attending physician prescribes it.

Sponsors

Centre Hospitalier Régional d'Orléans
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Intervention Group: Nasogastric tube removal upon extubation with protocolized PED screening Control Group: Conventional nasogastric tube management and PED screening strategy.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Extubation prescribed by the attending physisian * Intubation for more than 48 hours * Presence of a nasogastric tube * RASS score equal to 0 at the time of screening.

Exclusion criteria

* Gastric tube for gastric emptying (suction or bag) * Inability to remain alert for prolonged periods of time for the swallow test * Pre-existing dysphagia * Patient fed by nasogastric tube or jejunostomy before ICU stay * Tracheostomized patient * Contraindication to a bed head elevation \> 30°. * Contraindication to the resumption of feeding * Pregnant or breastfeeding woman * Decision to limit active therapies * Protected person (under guardianship or curatorship) / Person under court protection * Person not affiliated to a social security system

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Time to feeding resumption post extubationDay 1If the patient passes the YSP or the classic swallowing test, a per-os diet resumption will be started and we will record the time of passing the test as the time of per-os feeding resumption.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Reintubation rateDay 7Defined as the necessity to intubate a patient when he/she was once extubated during his/her stay.
Rate of acquired pneumonia in the intensive care unitDay 28Defined as a new pneumonia acquired after the first extubation
Weight loss during ICU stayDay 28Defined as the difference between admission and discharge weight
Undernutrition statusDay 7Defined as the blood pre-albumin level
ICU lenght of stayDay 28Defined as the number of days of ICU stay

Countries

France

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026