An interventional study of the initial gastric ultrasound and the gastric ultrasound last 3 minutes in Healthy Volunteer, sponsored by Hospices Civils de Lyon. Completed at 1 site in France. Open to participants aged 1 Year to 10 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-09-09.
Sponsored by Hospices Civils de Lyon · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
Pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents is a complication responsible for the third highest cause of anaesthesia-related mortality in France, and for 50% of airway management-related mortality in the UK. The occurrence of pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents is often the result of a poor assessment of the risk of a "full" stomach, and could therefore often be avoided if the preoperative gastric contents were known to the anaesthetist. It is therefore useful to be able to discriminate easily between patients at risk of aspiration and those at low risk before general anaesthesia, and this can be done by ultrasound examination of the gastric contents in the gastric antrum, non-invasively (abdominal ultrasound) using a 2-5 MHz abdominal ultrasound probe or a high-frequency linear probe in small children (under 10 kg). European recommendations on preoperative fasting in paediatrics recommend that the examination should be interpreted in a qualitative manner only, without measuring the antral surface. However, the diagnostic performance of this qualitative approach alone has never been evaluated. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic performance of the qualitative assessment of gastric contents by ultrasound in children, and to compare it with that of the clinical algorithm, for the detection of a volume of fluid greater than 1.25 ml/kg.
Children will present themselves in the morning after fasting. Upon arrival, if their weight is not known, the children will be weighed. Subsequently, they will be positioned on an examination table in a supine inclined position at 45° (head of the bed elevated). An initial gastric ultrasound will be performed by a physician (investigator 1) who will not conduct the study ultrasounds. This initial ultrasound aims to confirm the absence of gastric content in the supine and right lateral decubitus positions, thereby establishing gastric emptiness.
Investigator 1 will then proceed with the random selection of the clear liquid volume to be ingested for the study.
The child will then be asked to drink this determined volume of clear liquid (water or apple juice according to their preference), as per the randomization results, under the supervision of the first investigator who performed the initial ultrasound.
Subsequently, investigator 2 will perform a gastric ultrasound blindly with respect to the ingested liquid volume, three minutes after the consumption of the clear liquid. The examination will last a maximum of 3 minutes.
Non-invasive gastric antrum ultrasound examinations will utilize a probe with a frequency of 2-5.5 MHz and a linear probe with a frequency of 10 MHz, enabling the evaluation of the gastric antrum's appearance. The diameters (longitudinal D1 and anteroposterior D2) of the antrum will also be measured in the supine (semi-seated and lying) and right lateral positions in the sagittal plane passing through the abdominal aorta and the left lobe of the liver, for the calculation of the antral section area, given by the formula: Antral area = π x D1 x D2 / 4.
Hospices Civils de Lyon is the lead sponsor of 1,826 studies on the registry; 439 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
The child does not drink water, and then the gastric ultrasound is performed 3 minutes later blindly to the ingested volume.
Other: the initial gastric ultrasound · Other: the gastric ultrasound last 3 minutes
The child drinks 0.6 ml/kg water, and then the gastric ultrasound is performed 3 minutes later blindly to the ingested volume.
Other: the initial gastric ultrasound · Other: the gastric ultrasound last 3 minutes
The child drinks 1 ml/kg water, and then the gastric ultrasound is performed 3 minutes later blindly to the ingested volume.
Other: the initial gastric ultrasound · Other: the gastric ultrasound last 3 minutes
The child drinks 1.25 ml/kg water, and then the gastric ultrasound is performed 3 minutes later blindly to the ingested volume
Other: the initial gastric ultrasound · Other: the gastric ultrasound last 3 minutes
The child drinks 1.5 ml/kg water, and then the gastric ultrasound is performed 3 minutes later blindly to the ingested volume.
Other: the initial gastric ultrasound · Other: the gastric ultrasound last 3 minutes
The child drinks 2 ml/kg water, and then the gastric ultrasound is performed 3 minutes later blindly to the ingested volume.
Other: the initial gastric ultrasound · Other: the gastric ultrasound last 3 minutes
Non-invasive gastric antrum ultrasound examinations will utilize a probe with a frequency of 2-5.5 MHz and a linear probe with a frequency of 10 MHz, enabling the evaluation of the gastric antrum's appearance
Non-invasive gastric antrum ultrasound examinations will utilize a probe with a frequency of 2-5.5 MHz and a linear probe with a frequency of 10 MHz, enabling the evaluation of the gastric antrum's appearance
Sensitivity and specificity of the qualitative examination of the gastric antrum for the detection of gastric fluid volume ≥ 1.25 ml/kg in the 45° semirecumbent position
Calculation of the sensitivity and specificity
Time frame: 3 minutes after the ingestion of water
Positive predictive value, negative predictive value, positive and negative likelihood ratio of the qualitative examination of the gastric antrum for the detection of gastric fluid volume ≥ 1.25 ml/kg in the 45° semirecumbent position
Calculation of the positive predictive value, negative predictive value, positive and negative likelihood ratio
Time frame: 3 minutes after the ingestion of water
Diagnostic performance of a clinical algorithm used for the interpretation of gastric ultrasound for the detection of gastric fluid volume ≥ 1.25 ml/kg in the 45° semirecumbent position
Calculation of the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, positive and negative likelihood ratiovalue, positive and negative likelihood ratio
Time frame: 3 minutes after the ingestion of water
This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Hospices Civils de Lyon