Gastric Ultrasound Assessment for Patients Taking Cannabis

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Cannabis Use; Gastric Ultrasound; Point of Care Ultrasound

Treatments: Other: Gastric Ultrasound Exam

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06567873

2024-1155

Details and patient eligibility

About

The aim of this study is to perform bedside gastric point of care ultrasound (POCUS) exams to assess the gastric volume and content (clear liquids vs solid food) perioperatively in patients who report cannabis use.

Full description

Cannabis use in the United States has continued to increase in recent years, particularly in the adult population. Ease of access through legalization paired with improved public perception has contributed to the uptick in cannabis use. The subset of cannabis users suffering from pain who present for surgery pose a risk for perioperative aspiration due to the slowing of gastric motility due to cannabis use. There is currently no adapted NPO guideline to account for cannabis use.

Gastric Ultrasound (GUS) can be used as a bedside tool for assessing a patient's stomach contents and risk of aspiration. GUS can identify whether a patient's stomach is empty or filled with clear liquid, thick liquid, or solid food. The volume of the stomach can be accurately calculated if there is clear liquid content. A full stomach is categorized as those with solid or thick liquid content or with clear liquid measuring more than 1.5 ml/kg body weight. As GUS is noninvasive and does not pose risk to patients, it is a useful tool assessing aspiration risk in the preoperative period.

Enrollment: 40 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 99 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Any patient reporting preoperative cannabis usage within 1 month of surgery date

Exclusion criteria

• Patient refusal to participate
• Patient with gastric bypass or any other gastric surgery
• Large hiatal hernia
• Patients with large ascites
• Patients on peritoneal dialysis
• Emergency surgery
• Pre-existing diagnosis of gastroparesis
• Parkinson's disease
• Diabetes
• Currently taking metformin
• Chronic kidney disease stage 3 or higher
• Creatinine ≥ 1.2
• Esophageal surgery
• Currently taking GLP1 agonist medication

Trial design

40 participants in 1 patient group

Cannabis Users

Description:

The cannabis user group will be comprised of patients who report preoperative cannabis use within 1 month of surgery date. This group will receive the ultrasound exam to assess stomach contents.

Treatment:

Other: Gastric Ultrasound Exam