Unique skills in tertiary hospitals | The "third eye" of anesthesiologists! Perioperative esophageal ultrasound makes critically ill patients safer

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Dahe.com News: "During the anesthesia process, the most serious accident is cardiac arrest. In the past two years, we have used perioperative esophageal ultrasound technology to diagnose patients who may have cardiac arrest due to massive blood loss, pulmonary embolism, anaphylactic shock, etc. This technology has saved the lives of 8 to 10 patients in the hospital." said Chu Qinjun, director of the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Zhengzhou Central Hospital.

Helping anesthesiologists

Perioperative esophageal ultrasound technology benefits critically ill patients

As the population ages, surgical patients have more and more comorbidities, especially those over 65 years old. Chu Qinjun said: "Some critically ill patients have multiple diseases, and they are at great risk during surgery. Our responsibility as anesthesiologists is to ensure the safety of their surgery, monitor their cardiovascular function, and ensure that they wake up on time after surgery to ensure their safety."

It is often said in clinic: surgeons take care of diseases, and anesthesiologists take care of life! During an operation, anesthesiologists must not only ensure that the patient feels no pain during the operation, but also keep an eye on all directions, monitor the patient's pulse, breathing, and blood pressure in real time, ensure that the patient's vital signs are stable, and be ready to fight a "tough battle" with sudden situations at any time.

During anesthesia, the most serious accident is cardiac arrest. How can we quickly diagnose it? Chu Qinjun introduced that the ultrasound probe is placed in the patient's esophagus, close to the heart, through perioperative esophageal ultrasound technology. This can monitor the patient's heart and vascular system, as well as the lungs and chest. In the event of cardiac arrest, this technology can be used to see the cause, so that a quick diagnosis and treatment can be made to ensure the safety of the patient during surgery.

"This technology was first used in the United States in the 1980s and was first used in China at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University in 1994. Our hospital introduced this technology in 2019. It is a 2021 Zhengzhou City Famous Doctor Support Project." said Chu Qinjun.

Nearly 10 cardiac arrest patients have been saved

Making anesthesia safer for critically ill patients

The incidence of severe perioperative complications in elderly patients is much higher than that in adults, and the perioperative mortality rate is 3 to 5 times that of adult patients. For elderly patients over 75 years old, the perioperative mortality rate and the incidence of severe complications will be higher. Chu Qinjun said that since the introduction of perioperative esophageal ultrasound technology in 2019, the hospital has performed a total of 60,000 operations, and no patient has died from cardiac arrest during surgery. This is the hope that advances in diagnostic technology have brought to critically ill patients.

In the past two years, the hospital has used perioperative esophageal ultrasound technology to diagnose patients with possible cardiac arrest conditions such as massive blood loss, pulmonary embolism, and anaphylactic shock. Chu Qinjun said that this technology has saved the lives of about 8 to 10 patients with cardiac arrest.

Xie Yuxu, director of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Zhengzhou Central Hospital, said that esophageal ultrasound technology is very important for cardiac surgery. During cardiac surgery, it can accurately determine the extent of the lesion and the effect of the operation. Especially for minimally invasive surgery for congenital heart disease, it can accurately determine abnormalities in the heart's structure, thereby reducing surgical trauma to patients.

Popularize it to hospitals in Zhengzhou and surrounding areas

Let patients feel at ease to see a doctor at the grassroots level

It is reported that Zhengzhou Central Hospital not only introduced the "perioperative esophageal ultrasound monitoring technology" of West China Hospital, but also introduced the West China Weisi model teaching method and perioperative transesophageal ultrasound clinical thinking method to promote the application of visualization technology in clinical practice and empower young grassroots doctors.

"This project follows the principle of 'bringing in and sending out' and gradually popularizes the technology in Zhengzhou municipal hospitals and surrounding hospitals, truly implementing perioperative esophageal ultrasound technology in Zhengzhou, empowering young doctors in Zhengzhou, improving the safety of cardiovascular surgery for patients, and ensuring patient safety," said Chu Qinjun.

It is reported that Zhengzhou Central Hospital plans to train 80 to 120 anesthesiologists from municipal and surrounding hospitals to master this technology in the next two to three years, improve the anesthesia level and monitoring technology level of grassroots anesthesiologists, and let patients feel at ease to see a doctor at the grassroots level. (Yao Qing Chen Yaping)