What test confirms NG tube placement after insertion?

• A. X-ray to confirm location
• B. Auscultation with air insufflation
• C. Measuring gastric pH
• D. Visual assessment of tube length

Answer: (A)

Confirming nasogastric tube placement is essential to prevent feeding or medications from going into the lungs or other wrong areas. The most reliable way to verify placement after insertion is radiographic verification—an abdominal X-ray that shows the tube path with the tip clearly in the stomach. Other methods aren’t dependable on their own: auscultation with air insufflation can be misleading and doesn’t prove the tube is in the stomach; measuring gastric pH can be affected by medications and other factors, so it isn’t definitive for placement; and simply visually checking external tube length doesn’t confirm intragastric position. Therefore, an X-ray is the best confirmation.