A Role for Gastric Point of Care Ultrasound in Postoperative Delayed Gastrointestinal Functioning

Novice User Learning Curve for Handheld Gastric Point of Care Ultrasound Evaluations to Detect Delayed Return of Postoperative Peristalsis

“…1 Previous work showed utility in gastric POCUS exams on postoperative colorectal patients and found a significant correlation between "full stomach" exams and delayed bowel functioning (DBF). 2 While the findings are promising, the large size of modern ultrasound machines makes widespread use challenging and machine transport cumbersome. However, the recent advent of handheld portable ultrasound devices may provide a solution as they have shown reliability in the evaluation of patients with abdominal pathology, including trauma patients, and have been shown to reduce the time of exam and cost.…”

“…1 Previous work showed utility in gastric POCUS exams on postoperative colorectal patients and found a significant correlation between “full stomach” exams and delayed bowel functioning (DBF). 2…”

“…However, the recent advent of handheld portable ultrasound devices may provide a solution as they have shown reliability in the evaluation of patients with abdominal pathology, including trauma patients, and have been shown to reduce the time of exam and cost. 2 To have true clinical utility with postoperative care, use of gastric POCUS will need to be performed during rounds on a daily basis by residents and students with minimal, if any, previous ultrasound experience. Gastric POCUS technique is not taught to surgical residents and, thus, it is important to understand the learning curve associated with achieving proficiency.…”

SP41 Indicators that pocus is here to stay for anaesthesiologists too!

“…It allows to personalize aspiration risk assessment and to tailor anesthetic management to the individual patient. [10][11][12][13][14] Lung POCUS has proven to be a valuable tool for the detection of pneumothorax, pleural effusion, consolidation and alveolar interstitial syndrome in the critical care setting, searching for signs like: Lung sliding (sliding of visceral and parietal pleura over one another with respiration), that may rule out pneumothorax, A lines (repeated parallel lines below pleura), suggesting that there is no parenchymal disease and B lines ( vertical lines) indicating fluid in the lungs or an interstitial syndrome. According to studies it seems to have comparable or even higher sensitivity and specificity than the chest x ray in diagnosing common lung pathologies as alveolar interstitial syndrome, consolidation, pleural effusion and pneumothorax.…”