Tracheostomy and nasogastric tubes are not uncommon for patients undergoing head and neck radiation and typically require immobilization masks to be cut for accomodation. A look back! at daily imaging for these patients treated in Taiwan reveals patients with trachs experienced significantly more displacement errors in the X- and Y-axes than those without, likely explained by instability of trach positioning over time. Patients with NG tubes experienced significantly more displacement errors in the pitch- and yaw-axes, likely explained by external pressure from the mask on the tube resulting in involuntary patient movements. Most interesting, less displacement errors were seen when masks without shoulders were used with trachs and when masks with shoulders were used for NG tubes. | Kang, Adv Radiat Oncol 2025
