What it means
The xiphoid process is cartilage in children and slowly turns to bone with age. Nurses use it as a landmark: chest compressions are given on the lower half of the breastbone, above the xiphoid, and the length of a nasogastric tube is found by measuring from the nose tip to the earlobe, then down to the xiphoid.
Remember it
Measure an NG tube N-E-X: nose, earlobe, xiphoid.
At a glance
| Spanish | apófisis xifoides |
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Related terms
cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Emergency chest compressions, with or without rescue breaths, to keep blood flowing when the heart has stopped.
nasogastric tube
A thin, flexible tube passed through the nose and down the esophagus into the stomach.
thorax
The chest: the part of the body between the neck and the abdomen.