# Do NG tubes get clogged?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ng-tubes-get-clogged/672835>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 1, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ng-tubes-get-clogged/672835 "2013-11-01T13:06:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ng-tubes-get-clogged/672835/1 "2013-11-01T13:06:58Z")

</div>

I probably don’t chew my food as much as I should (let’s leave whether that is good or bad for another thread), so lets say I have just eaten a nice big steak or somthing else that would result in large sturdy chunks of food in my stomach and suddenly need to pay a visit to Emergency. If I need to get my stomach emptied (e.g. for surgery or OD) how do they deal with the chunks or do they just cross their fingers? I have trouble envisioning getting a large enough NG tube down there to deal with that.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ng-tubes-get-clogged/672835/2 "2013-11-01T13:53:44Z")

</div>

As I noted [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=6941), you don’t get your stomach pumped before emergency surgery.

NG tubes get clogged all the time. Often it’s because patients’ pills were crushed in attempt to get them down the tube with predictable effects if the pills are ‘gummy’ or if they haven’t been crushed finely enough.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ng-tubes-get-clogged/672835/3 "2013-11-01T14:15:34Z")

</div>

The tube used to pump one’s stomach, as in after an overdoes is very large. It’s put through the mouth,into the stomac, flushed then put to gravity or a pump. It’s removed after a very short time. If it gets clogged, it’s flushed again, rinse repeat until the effluent runs clear.  
They will then place an (N)asal (G)astric tube, for any small remnants. Yes, they, too can clog, but are fairly easy to clear.  
[This](http://www.google.com/search?q=ng+tube&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=urZzUsbXG-3BiwLtx4DIAw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1866&bih=970#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=TmI_7Xkfsk673M%3A%3BAYDehlNd6FhlAM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.indemed.com%252F_cache%252F1%252F1ec3caac514f533f99ffc0642ab63b80.jpg%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.indemed.com%252FProducts%252FProductDetails.cfm%253FPSKU%253D61266130%2526quantity%253D%2526gotocart%253D0%2526wes%253D%3B300%3B300) is what an adult nasal gastric chronic evacuation tube looks like. Most of the others pictured are feeding tubes.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ng-tubes-get-clogged/672835/4 "2013-11-01T17:40:22Z")

</div>

I had a feeling that NG tube was the wrong terminolgy, but didn’t know the proper name.

Thanks!