Autonomic and Oesophageal responses to Nasogastric Intubation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An investigation into the effect of nasogastric intubation on the autonomic nervous system and resultant (temporary) disruption of oesophageal function
IRAS ID
236935
Contact name
Steve Perring
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Registration pending, ClinicalTrials.gov
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Nasogastric (NG) intubation (passage of a tube into the stomach via the nose and throat) is well known as an unpleasant procedure. Anecdotally we often see temporary failure of the oesophagus when we are assessing its function in oesophageal manometry studies (measurement of pressures in the gullet). For this reason we routinely delay formal assessment of oesophageal function for 3 minutes post-intubation. We suspect that this is a result of an insult to the autonomic (non-conscious) nervous system (ANS). The ANS is heavily involved with the body’s self-regulation including setting of heart rate and blood pressure as well as operation of the gut including the oeosphagus. We wish to more formally assess the prevalence and extent of this temporary failure of oesophageal function by assessing all deliberate water swallowing episodes during routine oesophageal investigation. We also want to measure heart rate and blood pressure during our routine NG intubation and assessment to more fully understand the link between this shock to the ANS and temporary loss of oesophageal function. We also wish to see if the patient's anxiety state when they arrive at our department affects this failure of oesophageal function.
REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SC/0178
Date of REC Opinion
1 May 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion