Effectiveness of nasogastric tube decompression in mitigating delayed bleeding following endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric cancers

Nasogastric tube decompression (NGTD) has been a standard practice following endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancers (EGCs) in clinical settings for several years. Nevertheless, there remains a dearth of research assessing the efficacy of NGTD in preventing delayed bleeding after ESD.

From January 2021 to December 2022, eligible patients who underwent gastric ESD for EGCs were categorized into two groups: NGTD group and no NGTD group. A retrospective Propensity Score Matching (PSM) study was performed to analyzed the data.

The delayed bleeding rate did not exhibit a significant decrease in the NGTD group, when compared with the no NGTD group. In the multivariate analysis, the size of the resected lesion emerged as the sole predictive factor for delayed bleeding after ESD, as opposed to the use of NGTD. Moreover, our findings revealed that hospital stay and costs were higher in the NGTD group. (8 days vs 7 days, p = 0.033, 3348.19$ vs 2840.28$, p = 0.00, respectively).

The utilization of NGTD showed no significant impact on delayed bleeding after ESD for EGCs and was correlated with hospital stay and costs. Therefore, the routine application of NGTD following ESD for EGCs may not be deemed necessary.