Abstract

Gastroparesis despite standard fasting in diabetic patients may increase the aspiration risk. This study aimed to compare fasting gastric volume (GV) of diabetic with non-diabetic patients scheduled for elective surgery using USG. Material & methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, (SKIMS) for a period of 2 year among 60 diabetic and 60 non-diabetic patients fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. USG grade, cross-sectional area (CSA) of the antrum and GV were calculated. The gastric antrum was classified as Grade 0, 1 or 2, signifying empty antrum, fluid in RLD position only and antral fluid in both supine and RLD positions, respectively. Results: The mean glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was 7.54% with a range of 5.9 to 10.4%. The average fasting intervals were 8.62 ± 0.35 h in diabetic group (P = 0.125) and 8.73 ± 0.44 h in control/non-diabetic group. The gastric volume was higher in diabetic patient (p <0.001). The mean diameters (both AP and CC) and CSA calculated in both supine and RLD positions had a statistically significant difference with a higher value observed in the diabetic group as compared to the controls (P values<0.05). Conclusion: Bedside ultrasound can provide reliable information about the volume and nature of gastric contents. Diabetic patients have higher gastric antral cross-sectional area and gastric volumes than the non-diabetic patients.

Description

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