Introduction:
Critical illness is thought to be a catabolic state which puts critical
patients at significant risk of malnutrition. The illnesses in critical
patients induce inflammation, which is a significant risk factor for
malnutrition1. Evidence-based guidelines suggest that
enteral nutrition is superior to parenteral
nutrition2. Early enteral feeding in patients in whom
there is no contradiction for the same is associated with improved organ
survival and recovery and decreased incidence of infections that
decreases the ICU stay and improve the overall
outcome.3 Enteral feeding can either be delivered to
the stomach or distally. The usual methods of gastric feeding are
orogastric and nasogastric routes. These enteric feeding methods are
also used for decompression of the stomach. These methods are simple and
easy in terms of access but are not devoid of complications.
There are few case reports about fractures of feeding tubes. We present
a rare case of fracture of an orogastric tube in a patient, admitted to
the ICU with the diagnosis of posterior circulation stroke. The distal
part of the fractured tube was retrieved in the ICU under vision under a
laryngoscope without any complication.