OBJECTIVE: High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen therapy is frequently used following extubation. A case report, utilizing an innovative medical technology (The smART + Platform, ART MEDICAL Ltd., Netanya, Israel) that enables the detection of gastric refluxes and gastric residual volumes (GRV), has suggested that HFNC may be associated with increased reflux events and GRV. This study measured reflux events and GRV using smART+ in mechanically ventilated patients before and after extubation while they were receiving HFNC therapy. We aim to show if there is a significant difference in reflux events and GRV between HFNC users and mechanically ventilated patients.
METHODS: This is a post hoc analysis examines data of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving critically ill adult patients who received enteral nutrition through the smART + Platform. The study was approved by the local ethics committee. We compared the frequency and amplitude of reflux events and GRV in mechanically ventilated patients. These parameters were assessed both 3 h before extubation and subsequently after extubation when the patients were connected to HFNC. Patients served as their own controls. To evaluate the differences between the pre- and post-extubation measurements, we applied a parametric paired t-test.
RESULTS: Ten patients (mean age of 58 years; mean APACHE II score 22; mean 3.9 days of mechanical ventilation) were included. Three hours prior extubation the mean GRV was 4.1 ml/h compared to 14.03 ml/h on HFNC (p = 0.004). The mean frequency of major reflux events was 2.33/h in ventilated patients versus 4.4/h in the HFNC patients (p = 0.73). The mean frequency of major reflux events was 9.17/h in ventilated patients versus 9.83/h in HFNC patients (p = 0.14).
CONCLUSIONS: Leveraging the smART + Platform, we demonstrated that the use of HFNC significantly increases GRV compared with patients on mechanical ventilation and may increase the frequency of major reflux events, thereby increasing the risk of aspiration. Further studies are required to support our conclusions.

To conduct a systematic literature review of the current evidence on the effect of diabetes mellitus on gastric volume observed during a preoperative ultrasound examination. Using the results of this systematic literature review, a meta-analysis was performed to investigate whether there was an association between diabetes mellitus and an increased risk of presenting with a high-risk stomach (gastric volume associated with an increased risk of pulmonary aspiration).
Review article and meta-analysis.
Review of published literature.
A total of 3366 patients underwent surgery.
Gastric ultrasound examination.
Data for the meta-analysis and literature review were collected from the PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases of the National Library of Medicine from the date of inception to January 2023. All included studies measured the gastric antral cross-sectional area and/or gastric residual volume in patients with diabetes and those without diabetes. The data utilized in the meta-analysis included all studies that evaluated the incidence of high-risk stomachs based on ultrasonographic measurements of the gastric antral cross-sectional area or gastric residual volume.
Most collated studies revealed that diabetes mellitus was associated with increased antral cross-sectional area and gastric residual volume. A meta-analysis of published reports indicated that patients with diabetes have an increased rate of high-risk stomachs.
Diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased rate of high-risk stomachs. The authors recommend large prospective trials to ascertain the safety of the current fasting guidelines for patients with diabetes undergoing surgery.

UNASSIGNED: Mint and chamomile can effectively reduce the gastric residual volume (GRV). This study aimed to determine the effect of mint extract and chamomile drops on the GRV of trauma patients under mechanical ventilation and nasogastric tube feeding in the intensive care unit.
UNASSIGNED: This study was a triple-blinded randomized clinical trial with a 2×2 crossover design. Eighty patients were randomly divided to receive mint extract and chamomile drops. Five drops of mint extract and 11 drops of chamomile were gavaged every 6 hr. GRV was measured using a syringe-aspiration method before and 3 hr after each intervention. After a 24-hour washout period, the two groups changed places.
UNASSIGNED: In the first phase of the study, before the interventions, the GRV in the mint and chamomile groups was 14.60±7.89 and 13.79±7.12 ml, and after the interventions were 8.13±6.31 and 6.61±4.68 ml, respectively. In the study\'s second phase, before the interventions, the GRV in the mint and chamomile groups was 10.03±4.93 and 11.46±7.17 ml and after the interventions, GRV was 4.97±4.05 and 6.98±4.60 ml, respectively. The difference in the GRV before and after the intervention was not significantly different between the two groups. Both herbal drugs effectively reduced the GRV (p=0.382).
UNASSIGNED: Mint extract and chamomile drops are similarly effective in reducing the GRV in trauma patients under mechanical ventilation and nasogastric tube (NGT) feeding in the intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: The presence of gastrointestinal dysfunction is an outcome-relevant complication in critically ill ICU patients.
UNASSIGNED: The following review aims to show the importance of gastrointestinal dysfunction. Multimodal therapy for gastroparesis and paralytic ileus is discussed.
CONCLUSIONS: Erythromycin and metoclopramide are options for gastroparesis, while neostigmine is commonly used for paralytic ileus.
UNASSIGNED: HINTERGRUND: Das Vorliegen einer gastrointestinalen Dysfunktion ist eine outcomerelevante Komplikation des kritisch kranken Patienten auf der ICU.
UNASSIGNED: Die folgende Übersichtsarbeit soll die Bedeutung einer gastrointestinalen Dysfunktion aufzeigen. Die multimodale Therapie einer Magenentleerungsstörung und eines paralytischen Ileus wird erörtert.
UNASSIGNED: Erythromycin und Metoclopramid sind medikamentöse Therapieoptionen bei Magenentleerungsstörung, Neostigmin bei paralytischem Ileus.

Premature infants\' gastric residual volume may be affected by position. This systematic review was conducted to examine the effect of lying position on the gastric residual volume of preterm newborns fed by gastric tube. Electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, MEDLINE Complete, Academic Search Ultimate, CINAHL Complete, Cochrane, and Scopus) were searched for randomized controlled experimental or quasiexperimental studies in English published between 2011 and 2022 investigating the effect of one or more lying positions on gastric residual volume in premature newborns. The PICOS strategy was used in preparing and reporting the systematic review. A total of 304 articles were retrieved, and the full texts of 12 articles were evaluated for suitability. After eliminating the excluded articles, 10 articles were included in the analysis. The quality of evidence varied, with four studies judged to have poor quality whereas the remaining six were considered to range from moderate to good in quality. Based on the results obtained from the studies, it was determined that gastric residual volume was the least in the right lateral and prone positions and more in the left lateral and supine positions compared with the other two positions, with no difference between the two latter positions. The methodological differences, such as the evaluation of different positions, the timing of positioning and the duration of maintaining in the same position, and the measurement times of gastric residual volume made it difficult to reach a definitive proof. We concluded that high-evidence studies evaluating all positions are needed.

UNASSIGNED: Despite standard preoperative fasting guidelines, children are subjected to prolonged fasting due to various reasons. This does not reduce gastric residual volume (GRV) further, instead causes hypoglycemia, hypovolemia, and unnecessary discomfort. We calculated the cross-sectional area (CSA) of antrum and GRV in children in fasting state and 2 h after intake of oral carbohydrate-rich fluid, using gastric ultrasound.
UNASSIGNED: Anteroposterior and craniocaudal gastric antral diameters were measured by ultrasonography in the right lateral decubitus position, at fasting and at 2 h after 8 ml/kg of pulp-free fruit juice ingestion. CSA of antrum and GRV was calculated using validated mathematical models.
UNASSIGNED: Data of 149 children of age >1-12 years were analyzed. Greater than ninety-nine percent of children emptied ≥95% of the ingested pulp-free fruit juice volume within 2 h. One hundred and seven (71.8%) children had reduced CSA and GRV at 2 h after fruit juice ingestion (2.01 ± 1.00 cm2 and 7.77 ± 6.81 ml) as compared to fasting state (3.18 ± 1.40 cm2 and 11.89 ± 7.80 ml). Fourty-nine (28.2%) children had slightly increased CSA and GRV at 2 h after fruit juice (2.46 ± 1.14 cm2 and 10.61 ± 7.26 ml) than at fasting (1.89 ± 0.92 cm2 and 8.61 ± 6.75 ml), but this increased GRV was grossly lower than limit of risk stomach (26.54 ± 8.95 ml).
UNASSIGNED: Carbohydrate-rich drink in the form of pulp-free fruit juice may be safely permitted up to 2 h before anesthetic induction, as it promoted gastric emptying in ≈ 72% of children and 28% of children, although GRV was slightly higher at 2 h after fruit juice ingestion than fasting but remained considerably lower than limit of risk stomach.

How to cite this article: Pratyusha K, Jindal A. Serial Ultrasonographic-measurement of Gastric Residual Volume in Critically Ill Patients for Prediction of Gastric Tube Feed Intolerance: Views. Indian J Crit Care Med 2023;27(1):79.

BACKGROUND: Aspiration pneumonitis remains a dreaded complication that may lead to almost 9% of anaesthesia-related deaths. The presence of gastric contents has always been a contributing factor to an increased risk of aspiration. Preoperative gastric ultrasound has been suggested as a modality for determining residual volume in special populations and conditions. We conducted an observational study to determine the gastric residual volume in preoperative patients of elective surgery with gastric ultrasound and to study its correlation with patient factors.
METHODS: We enrolled 411 patients in the age group of 18-80 with ASA-PS I and II having BMI less than 35 kg/m2. Patients with prior gastrointestinal surgery and parturients were excluded from the present study. Gastric antrum in both supine and right lateral decubitus positions was measured using USG in the immediate preoperative period, and gastric residual volume was calculated, which was subsequently correlated with various patient factors.
RESULTS: On qualitative assessment, 97 and 118 patients were observed to have distended stomachs in the supine and right lateral decubitus positions, respectively. On quantitative assessment, 336 had safe GRV, 60 patients were classified as having a low risk of aspiration (GRV < 1.5 ml/kg) while 13 had a high risk of aspiration (> 1.5 ml/kg). Eight patients with a fasting duration of more than ten hours and five who fasted between 6 and 10 h had a gastric residual volume of more than 1.5 ml/h. Patients who were premedicated with histamine blockers had a statistically significant higher antral cross-sectional area (p-value - 0.022*) and GRV (p-value - 0.018*) in the right lateral decubitus position compared to patients who had taken proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). As BMI increased, there was a statistically significant (p-value < 0.001) increase in mean antral CSA in both supine and right lateral decubitus positions. There was a statistically significant association found between type 2 diabetes (p-value 0.045*) with antral grade.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients can have significant residual volume (> 1.5 ml/kg) despite adequate fasting, and preoperative gastric ultrasound can help in assessing the same and guiding perioperative airway management. PPIs are more effective in reducing gastric residual volume as compared to histamine blockers. Patients with a BMI of more than 30 and type 2 diabetes mellitus have significant correlation with increased gastric residual volume mandating preoperative gastric ultrasound assessment for effective management.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BMI over 30 and type 2 diabetes may benefit from POCGUS to guide perioperative airway management by stratifying GRV. Trial registration Name of registry-Clinical Trial Registry of India. Trial registration number-2020/03/024083. Date of registration-19.3.2020. URL- http://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/pmaindet2.php?trialid=39961&EncHid=&userName=.

BACKGROUND: There are many controversies over the necessity of monitoring gastric residual volume in the nursing care of enteral nutrition. We aimed to conduct an updated meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of monitoring or not monitoring gastric residual volume on patients\' outcomes and complications.
METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Library database to 15 April 2021 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of gastric residual volume and no gastric residual volume monitoring. Review Manager software was used for data analysis.
RESULTS: A total of seven RCTs involving 1240 enteral nutrition patients were included. Gastric residual volume monitoring was associated with reduced incidence of vomiting (OR2.33, 95% CI:1.68-3.24), whereas no gastric residual volume monitoring was associated with reduced incidence of unnecessary interruptions of enteral nutrition (OR0.38,95% CI:0.26-0.55). There were no significant differences on the incidence of abdominal distention (OR1.87, 95% CI:0.82-4.28), diarrhoea (OR1.03,95% CI:0.74-1.43), VAP (OR0.83, 95%CI:0.37-1.89), duration of mechanical ventilation (MD -0.06,95% CI:-1.22-1.10), length of ICU stay (MD -1.33, 95% CI:-3.58-0.91) and mortality (OR0.90,95% CI:0.61-1.34).
CONCLUSIONS: Not monitoring gastric residual volume is associated with reduced unnecessary interruptions of enteral nutrition related to inadequate feeding and increased risk of vomiting.

UNASSIGNED: Gastric residual volume (GRV) is considered an important parameter for gastric emptying and nutrition tolerance. This volume is measured before any nutrition and has a direct effect on the volume and timing of the next nutrition. The present study aimed to examine the GRV via ultrasound after receiving intravenous ondansetron, metoclopramide, and neostigmine.
UNASSIGNED: In the present study, 40 patients were included in the study, 10 patients were excluded from the study due to death during treatment, and 30 patients were divided into three groups of 10(10 patients in each group).The first, second, and third groups received 2.5, 10, and 8 mg neostigmine, metoclopramide, and ondansetron every 8 h, respectively. The drugs were infused as a micro set in 100 ml normal saline into patients within 30 min. The patients underwent ultrasound imaging and GRV measurement by an intensive care unit (ICU) subspecialty fellow, who was not aware of the drugs received by the patients, in the 1st h of hospitalization, 6 h after drug injection, and once daily for 4 days.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 40 patients entered the study based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The effect of neostigmine on reducing GRV (Gastric residual volume) in ICU patients was better than those of the other two drugs, which was significant.
UNASSIGNED: The results of this study showed that neostigmine has a better and significant effect on reducing GRV in ICU patients, compared to those of ondansetron and metoclopramide.