The placement of nasogastric tubes

Tracheobronchial aspiration is a potentially life-threatening com-plication of enteral feeding A malpositioned nasogastric tube, improper feeding site, large gastric volume and supine position are the main risk factors for aspiration dur ing enteral feeding. When en-teral formulations or medications enter the lung through a nasogas-tric tube inadvertently positioned in the respiratory tract, the life-threatening complication that re-sults is referred to as “aspiration by proxy ” (Figure 1).