Evaluation of gastric emptying through ultrasonography in hospitalized adult patients at the Trinidad Teaching Medical Center

Abstract

Objective: to determine the time of gastric emptying through serial ultrasonography in adult patients hospitalized at Centro Médico Docente La Trinidad, between October and November 2020. Method: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional observational study. The sample was constituted by 40 patients who were hospitalized at the clinical center and met the inclusion criteria. Results: 50% male and 50% female, ages were between 19 and 64 years, mean and standard deviation was 44.90 ± 11,836 years; as for the ASA, 50% were in ASA I and 50% in ASA II; with regard to the type of diet, it was determined that 87.5% was solid and 12.5% liquid. It was also observed that 75% of subjects showed emptying in 8 hours, 12.5% at 4 hours, 10.0% at 6 hours and 2.5% more than 8 hours; besides, statistical significance (p<.001) was found when diet type and emptying time were related. Conclusions: the routine implementation of ultrasonography increases perioperative safety, reducing the discomfort of the patient who undergoes a period of fasting which is generally longer than necessary.