Response

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the letter’s critique of our article; unfortunately, the authors appear to have misinterpreted the thrust of our article’s intent. Most importantly, we disagree with their statement that “the article reads as if this device cannot be safely used by nurse operators and, if used, radiographic confirmation is required.” Quite to the contrary, we were careful to describe studies in which skilled nurse operators were highly successful in use of the device.^1,2  We further stipulated that need for radiographic verification is likely minimal when highly skilled operators use an electromagnetic placement device (EMPD) to place tubes.

Although we agree that use of an EMPD in skilled hands is clearly superior to blind placements, we are concerned about continuing reports of poor patient outcomes associated with use of the device. We are not alone in this concern, as evidenced by the Food...