Removal of nasogastric tube accidentally stitched to roux-en-Y oesophagojejunostomy following a radical gastrectomy for stomach cancer: case report and review of the literature

ABSTRACT

Nasogastric tubes [NGTs] are important for feeding, stenting and decompression after gastrointestinal surgeries, particularly in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Resistance in the removal of a NGT is a rare surgical complication and may be due to a knot in the tube or a stitch anchoring the tube to an anastomosis. We report a 41-year-old male patient who was admitted to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2015 with stomach cancer. He underwent a radical total gastrectomy with a Roux-en-Y oesophagojejunostomy. One week after the surgery, removal of the NGT was attempted; however, this was very difficult and the proximal end of the tube was cut off as a temporary measure. Six weeks later, an upper gastrointestinal tract endoscopy revealed that the distal end of the NGT had been accidentally stitched to the Roux-en-Y oesophagojejunostomy. The stitch was removed and the rest of the NGT was successfully extracted using a snare