SynthesisNursing in critical care2026
Guidelines for Verification of Gastric Tube Location in Adult Hospitalised Patients: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in Nursing in critical care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Guidelines for Verification of Gastric Tube Location in Adult Hospitalised Patients: A Systematic Review.Nursing in critical care · 2026Pooled it
- Radiological Confirmation of Enteral Feeding Tube Placement Before Initiating Enteral Nutrition: A Review.Cureus · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVerification of correct gastric tube placement is a major patient safety issue. Guidelines recommend different procedures.
aimTo evaluate international guidelines for verifying correct gastric tube placement in adult hospitalised patients, identifying recommended practices and methodological quality. STUDY
designSystematic review with searches conducted in Medline, CINAHL and guideline repositories until January 2024. Reference lists of identified articles were also screened. Guidelines on adult gastric tube placement based on a systematic literature search and/or a formal consensus process were included. Data extraction and quality assessments, using the AGREE-II tool, were conducted by two and four reviewers respectively.
resultsSix guidelines from three countries were included. Radiographic confirmation is widely regarded as the gold standard for verifying gastric tube placement, especially when the position is uncertain, although bedside methods such as pH measurement, capnography and visual inspection are increasingly recommended. There is great variability regarding recommended bedside techniques, pH thresholds and routine monitoring practices. Marking the tube's exit site and routinely monitoring external length are universally recommended. Five guidelines recommend against the auscultation method either in general or at least with regard to its sole use. Methodological quality and evidence strength vary significantly across guidelines.
conclusionsWhile consensus exists on some aspects, variability in recommendations reflects inconsistent evidence bases. Most guidelines showed insufficient methodological quality. International standardisation and high-quality primary research are necessary. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This review synthesizes current guidelines on gastric tube placement, exposing methodological weaknesses, recommendation inconsistencies and unreliability of auscultation, identifying a critical information gap in clinical practice.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.