- © 2008 Canadian Medical Association
A nasogastric tube was inserted in a 35-year-old man before a surgical procedure. After the operation when the tube was being removed, the patient experienced an excruciating pain in his nasopharynx. The tube could not be advanced outward or inward. A radiograph showed a knotted nasogastric tube in the patient's nasopharynx (Figure 1). The tube was eventually removed through the oral cavity by use of a McGill forceps. Upon further review of the radiograph, we saw that the tube was coiled in the patient's stomach, which could have led to it becoming knotted when it was being pulled out.
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