POINT-OF-CARE ULTRASOUND EVALUATION OF NIL PER ORAL STATUS IN PAEDIATRIC PATIENTS AGED 1–5 YEARS POSTED FOR ELECTIVE SURGERIES: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: Preoperative fasting is advised to reduce gastric content and aspiration risk during anaesthesia. Fastingduration alone may not reliably indicate actual gastric status. Gastric point-of-care ultrasound can provide bedsideassessment of gastric volume and nature of content. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional observational studyincluded 80 children aged one to five years posted for elective surgery. Gastric POCUS was performed before induction ofanaesthesia. Gastric volume was calculated from the antral cross-sectional area and expressed in mL/kg. Gastric content wasrecorded as nil, liquid or solid. Clinical hydration status was assessed using general appearance, mucous membrane,capillary refill time and skin turgor. Results: The mean gastric volume was 1.09 ± 0.51 mL/kg. Grade 0 gastric volume waspresent in 45 (56.3%) children, Grade 1 in 29 (36.3%) and Grade 2 in six (7.5%). Gastric content was nil in 70 (87.5%)children. Liquid content was present in nine (11.3%) and solid content in one (1.3%) child. Normal or mildly alteredhydration status was observed in 76 (95.0%) children. Four (5.0%) children had moderate dehydration and none had severedehydration. POCUS grade was not significantly associated with hydration status (p=0.194). Mean gastric volume was alsocomparable across age groups (p=0.835) and between male and female children (p=0.699). Conclusion: Most children hadan empty stomach or gastric volume below 1.5 mL/kg. A small proportion had increased gastric volume or solid contentdespite scheduled fasting. Clinical hydration status did not predict gastric POCUS findings. Gastric ultrasound may provideuseful additional information during preoperative assessment in paediatric patients.