Preoperative Ultrasound Assessment of Residual Gastric Volume in Patients with Delayed Gastric Emptying Undergoing Elective Surgeries

Abstract

ne of the main problems facing anesthesiologists during anesthesia is delayed gastric emptying which may contribute to pulmonary aspiration. Perioperative aspiration of gastric contents is a rare but serious complication of anesthesia. Pulmonary aspiration is involved in up to 9% of all anesthesia-related deaths. One of the main risk factors for aspiration is the presence of residual gastric fluid at the time of anesthetic induction. It was demonstrated that bedside utrasonography can provide reliable qualitative and quantitative information about the nature (fluid or solid) and volume of gastric content. As data on the validity (i.e. accuracy) and reliability (i.e. reproducibility) of gastric sonography become increasingly available, the next important question is how to best incorporate this new diagnostic tool into daily clinical practice to assess aspiration risk and tailor anesthetic management in appropriate cases. We envision this tool to be useful in many clinical situations in which aspiration risk is unclear or undetermined.