Any surgical procedure carries an inherent risk of pulmonary aspiration. Food or liquid from the stomach might be forced back up the throat from where it could enter the lungs (aspiration) resulting in serious complications prolonging the hospital stay or in extreme circumstances death.
The risk of this is slightly higher in diabetics when compared to non-diabetics as the emptying of contents from the stomach is slightly delayed. This is why people going for surgery are asked not to eat for a specific time before their surgery. Anesthesiologists have recently developed an ultrasound test to determine if there is content in a patient's stomach and how much. This test involves an ultrasound examination of the abdomen and taking some measurements on the ultrasound screen.
This study aims to evaluate the amount of fluid remaining in the stomach of diabetic patients after a standard fasting period, and compare it with non-diabetic patients coming for elective surgical procedures. The investigators also aim to find an association between the type and duration of diabetes mellitus with residual gastric volume. Episodes of intra-operative regurgitation, vomiting or aspiration will also be documented.
