Abstract: Background – Nasoenteric feeding tubes are commonly used to provide short-term enteric nutrition in dogs. However, it is unknown if the placement of the tube through the lower esophageal sphincter increases the risk of gastroesophageal reflux.
Hypothesis/Objectives – Our objective was to compare evidence of gastroesophageal reflux between dogs with nasogastric (NG) and nasoesophageal (NE) tubes.
Animals – Twelve healthy research dogs.
Methods – Prospective, randomized cross-over study. Nasal feeding tubes were positioned with the distal tip terminating in either the esophagus or stomach. Continuous mucosal pH was recorded by radiotelemetric pH capsules in the distal esophagus. Following a recovery period, the study was repeated with the other type of feeding tube. The effect of tube type on a series of reflux parameters was assessed in separate T-tests while accounting for the crossover design.
Results – The mean analyzed study time was 85.81 (SD=3.57) and 86.43 (SD=3.99) hours for NE and NG tubes, respectively. There were no significant differences between NE and NG tubes in the time with esophageal pH < 4 (mean ± standard deviation, 2.22% ± 2.75 and 2.59% ± 3.62, p=0.446), number of reflux episodes/hour (0.54 ± 0.67 and 0.44 ± 0.44, p=0.369), number of reflux episodes > 5 minutes/hour (0.06 ± 0.08 and 0.08 ± 0.11, p=0.353), and duration of longest reflux episode (15.77 ± 13.94 and 20.36 ± 21.27 minutes, p=0.291), respectively.
Conclusions and Clinical Importance – For all parameters measured, there was no significant difference between tube type in healthy dogs.
