OG Tubes..

How do you tape them?

I've seen several different methods, but in my unit, the most common way is in a fashion that causes the tube to stick straight out of the baby's mouth. I find little fingers wrapped around the tube ready to jerk it out because the tube is right in the path of their hands when they start waving around.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

I tape them in the center of the bottom lip. I found that taping on the left or right side of the mouth causes the OG to curve towards the opposite side of the mouth before going down the back of the throat. The baby will push some OG out with their tongue and provide a loop for them to hook their finger in and pull it out.

[rnkaytee]

^^ What GuyInBabyland said. We used to have a terrible time keeping them from bowing out but now we just tape them in the bottom center lip (on the chin, essentially). If we have a real Houdini we'll tape them like an ET tube but that's incredibly rare.

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

Do you just point the tube straight down?

[Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN]

Do you just point the tube straight down?

Yup. Like this:

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

Thanks for the help guys! That looks a lot more secure and out of the baby's path than what I've been seeing. I'll try it next time I put down an OG.

[HyperSaurus, RN, BSN]

What kind of tape is that? It looks like duoderm

[Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN]

I think it is. We use Duoderm underneath the tube and Tegaderm on top, and ours look very similar to the photo.

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

Asked my preceptor about this. She told me that (sometime before I started) they were told by numerous emails not to tape OG tubes like this. There were problems related to restricted mandible movement. I'd have to do more digging for specifics. So, it looks like I won't be taping like that.

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

There were problems related to restricted mandible movement.

How is it restricting mandible movement? It is taped to the chin. It does not restrict movement of the jaw at all.

[NICUmiiki, DNP, NP]

All I can see it it might hold their mouth open... Like I said, I'd have to do more digging for specifics, but that was a pretty new change for the unit.

[Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN]

I'd be curious as to those specifics too. These are very thin, flexible tubes we're talking about, they're not stiff enough to prop open a baby's mouth.