Ultrasound evaluation of residual gastric volume in critically ill patients with acute gastrointestinal dysfunction
Keywords:
malnutrition, enteral nutrition, ultrasoundAbstract
Introduction: Gastrointestinal dysfunction is associated with abnormalities in intestinal motor function, microbiota alterations, loss of intestinal barrier integrity, bacterial translocation, and alterations in the important immune function of the gut. Determination of residual gastric volume by ultrasound could be a diagnostic tool to monitor enteral intolerance and minimize complications in critically ill patients.
Objective: To correlate residual gastric volume measured by ultrasound and residue measured by manual aspiration in patients with enteral intolerance.
Methods: Observational, analytical, longitudinal and prospective study in patients with enteral intolerance who were admitted to the intensive care unit of the Medical-Surgical Research Center during the period from October 2024 to March 2025.
Results: 60 patients were studied with 120 gastric residue measurements by both methods. The mean age was 68.3 years, 53.3 % were men, the most frequent comorbidities were Septic shock and sepsis in 70 % of patients, followed by heart failure and ischemic heart disease, respectively. Using Pearson's r, it was determined that there is a directly proportional correlation with a correlation coefficient of 0.95.
Conclusions: Determining residual gastric volume by ultrasound using the Pearl formula is a useful method for early detection of enteral nutrition intolerance, with a high correlation with manual measurement.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Leanet maria Quiles Gomez, Anselmo Abdo Cuza, Emi Hernández Fernández , Lilianne Perera Camejo
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