How Common is Aspiration Pneumonia in Patients Presenting with Acute Stroke and Fed by Using Nasogastric Tube?

Background: Stroke is the leading cause of fatalities and years lost due to incapacity. Due to the possibility of pneumonia developing, aspiration has long been recognized as a substantial cause of morbidity after a stroke. Objective: To determine the frequency of aspiration pneumonia in nasogastric-tube fed stroke patients.Material and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the department of Medicine, Lady reading hospital, Peshawar from 01-12-2020 to 30-05-2021.A total of 230 patients presenting with stroke and subjected to NG tube for enteral nutrition were included in the study in a consecutive manner and checked for aspiration pneumoniaResults: The mean age of the patients was 58.7 + 9.1 years. 64.3% were males and 35.7% females. The mean duration of symptoms at presentation was 35.6 + 7.6 hours. On CT brain, 56.2% patients had ischemic stroke and 43.9% had hemorrhagic stroke. Aspiration pneumonia was recorded in 20.4%.Conclusion: Aspiration pneumonia is fairly common in our stroke patients who are on NG tube for enteral nutrition.Keywords: Acute hemorrhagic stroke, Aspiration pneumonia, Hemorrhagic stroke, Ischemic stroke, Nasogastric tube.