Two Cases of Parkinson's Disease Accompanied with Nasogastric Tube Syndrome

Abstract

We report 2 cases of patients with Parkinson's disease who exhibited bilateral vocal cord paralysis induced by an indwelling nasogastric tube (N-G tube). Both patients showed abrupt inspiratory stridor after N-G tube placement. A fiberoptic laryngeal examination revealed bilateral vocal cord abductor paralysis (VCAP). After N-G tube removal, patient symptoms improved. Nasogastric tube syndrome (NGTS) is an uncommon but life-threatening syndrome that causes sore throat and bilateral VCAP following N-G tube insertion. Throat pain is considered an important early manifestation of NGTS. However, in cases of advanced Parkinson's disease, subjective symptoms of NGTS, such as throat pain, may be difficult to recognize. We here report 2 patients with parkinson's disease accompanied by NGTS with literature review and proposed that inspiratory strider is a useful objective symptom in early diagnosing of NGTS. (Received March 25, 2020; Accepted May 18, 2020; Published September 1, 2020).