Point of care ultrasound of small intestine in patients undergoing laparoscopic bowel surgery: a prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly utilized in clinical medicine, yet its role in assessing normal postoperative bowel function remains underexplored, particularly after laparoscopic colorectal surgeries.

METHODS

A prospective cohort study of 20 laparoscopic bowel resection patients was conducted, utilizing small bowel POCUS before surgery and daily from postoperative day (POD) 1 to POD 4. Small bowel width and a Small Bowel Motility Index (SBMI) were recorded in each examination. Statistical analyses involved repeated measures ANOVA to evaluate motility and width changes over study days.

RESULTS

The small bowel motility index displayed statistically significant differences across the study days before surgery up to POD4 (P<0.001). Pairwise comparisons revealed significant differences between pre-surgery (10.58±1.31) and POD1 (8.20±2.30) with a mean difference of 2.38 (P=0.009). Subsequent days demonstrated significant differences between POD1 and POD3 (9.78±1.51) and POD4 (10.30±2.05) with mean differences of -1.58 (P=0.049) and -2.10 (P=0.029) respectively. In contrast, small bowel width did not exhibit statistical significance during this follow-up period (P=0.112).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings underscore the dynamic nature of small bowel motility, highlighting its potential as a crucial parameter for postoperative assessment. Further larger studies with vareity of patients are warranted to explore the broader applications of small bowel POCUS in postoperative care.