Anesthesia & Clinical Research
Open Access

Abstract

Intraoperative Transthoracic Echocardiography is a Feasible Technique Used in Morbidly Obese Patients for Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Monitoring

María Carolina Cabrera Schulmeyer, Jaime De la Maza, Ignacio Fernández, Cristián Ovalle and Carlos Farias

Background and objectives: To evaluate the feasibility of an abbreviated focus-assessed transthoracic echocardiography protocol in morbidly obese patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether good images could be obtained from this particularly difficult group of patients for whom acoustic imaging is often poor. Heart imaging could be helpful for cardiopulmonary screening and real-time monitoring. Materials and methods: The study included 106 morbidly obese patients, who were undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery. The mean patient age was 32 years (range 21- 52), and there were 35 males. The parasternal long and short axes, apical 4 and 5 chambers were evaluated. Results: In 95% of the patients, at least one view was obtained. In 78% two views were obtained and in 31% of the patients, all views and measurements could be performed. Discussion: In obese patients, the major advantage of having a non-invasive cardiac monitoring device is the ability to perform anesthesia delivery. Conclusion: Focused echocardiogaphy examination performed by anesthesiologists in the intraoperative period of morbid obese patients is feasible for almost all patients. Echocardiography offers non-invasiveness and speed for assessing the hemodynamic state and heart function of an obese patient. The image quality of the heart is sufficient to undergo interpretation and, therefore can contribute to intraoperative clinical decision-making