| Certain populations, such as pregnant women, children, obesity, aged patients, end-stage renal failure, diabetic gastroparesis, critically patients and emergency surgical patients, can not be guaranteed their gastric emptying during induction of anesthesia according to the routine guidelines of preoperative fasting. Bedside gastricantrum ultrasound, which is portable, rapid, accurate and non-invasive, can be used to evaluate the characteristics and volume of gastric contents in the above-mentioned special populations, and further guide anesthesiologists to develop individualized anesthesia induction plans to prevent reflux and aspiration. This article reviews the implementation and methods of gastric antrum ultrasound in evaluating gastric contents, the strategies to prevent reflux and aspiration, and the progress of clinical application in evaluating gastric contents in this special populations. |
