Abstract

Introduction: Gastric content aspiration is one of the most severe complications of general anesthesia. However, few studies have assessed gastric volume with ultrasound to determine the appropriate fasting time before surgery. This study aimed to determine gastric emptying time following the consumption of a traditional Turkish breakfast using ultrasound.

Materials and Method: Patients were asked to fast for 8 h before the first ultrasound; subsequently, the gastric emptying time was determined via serial gastric ultrasound examinations conducted by two experienced sonographers. Real-time ultrasonographic evaluations were performed every 1 hour. All ultrasound assessments were conducted with volunteers in the supine position and right lateral decubitus position, and a convex probe was used to visualize the epigastric area.

Results: Fourteen patients with a mean age of 71.71 ± 6.33 years were enrolled in the study, and the mean body mass index was 32.74 ± 9.14 kg/m2. Gastric emptying time was 286.14 ± 33.96 min. The craniocaudal and anteroposterior diameters, as well as their antral cross-sectional areas, revealed statistical differences.

Conclusion: Our findings show that gastric emptying time determined by measuring antral cross-sectional area on ultrasound is less than 6 hours in subjects aged over 65 years.