Oral Gastric Suctioning Effect on Transesophageal Echo

The Effect of Orogastric Suctioning on Quality of Transesophageal Echo Images in Cardiac Surgery

During heart surgery images of the heart are taken with transesophageal echocardiography. The images track how the heart is doing during surgery. It is normal practice to place an oral gastric tube in the stomach during heart surgery. The oral gastric tube is used to suction out stomach contents to avoid potential aspiration and avoid stomach acid build up. The purpose of this research study is to see if the images of the heart have better quality after your stomach has been emptied. This project hopes to help determine the best method to obtain the better quality images of the heart during cardiac surgery.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: TEE Image Quality
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: Transesophageal Echocardiography

Detailed Description

After induction, the transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) probe will be placed in the usual fashion for the cardiac surgery case. Five specific images that are part of a standard TEE exam will be obtained by TEE. An oral gastric (OG) tube will then be placed to suction stomach contents. The OG tube will then be removed and the same five images previously taken will be repeated. The five images reviewed from the TEE include mid esophageal four chamber, mid esophageal two chamber, transgastric basal, transgastric mid-papillary and deep transgastric. Two blinded and independent cardiologists who are echocardiography experts will review the before and after images and grade them for quality of the images. They will grade the images on a scale of 1-4 with 1 being excellent quality and 4 being very poor quality.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 200

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Scott Coleman, DO; Phone Number: 336-716-4498; Email: Scott.Coleman@advocatehealth.org
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Lynnette Harris, BSN; Phone Number: 336-716-8791; Email: lynnette.harris@advocatehealth.org

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Carolina
    • Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, 27157
      • Recruiting
      • Atrium Health-Wake Forest Baptist
      • Contact: Scott R Coleman, DO; Phone Number: 336-716-4498; Email: Scott.Coleman@advocatehealth.org
      • Contact: Lynnette C. Harris, BSN; Phone Number: 336-716-8791; Email: lynnettte.harris@advocatehealth.org
      • Principal Investigator: Scott R Coleman, DO

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients scheduled for cardiac surgery at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

- Transesophageal echocardiography assisted cardiac surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

• hiatal hernia
• documented or suspected esophageal stricture
• contraindications to a TEE

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Cardiac Surgery with Transesophageal Echocardiography; Participants scheduled for cardiac surgery with transesophageal echocardiography performed as part of their standard of care treatment during their surgery.	Diagnostic test: Transesophageal Echocardiography; Transesophageal echocardiography images will be taken prior to and post oral gastric suction.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Quality of Mid Esophageal Four Chamber Images - Pre Oral Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography mid esophageal four chamber images will be taken prior to oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes
Quality of Mid Esophageal Four Chamber Images - Post Oral Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography mid esophageal four chamber images will be taken post oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes
Quality of Transgastric Basal Images - Pre Oral Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography transgastric basal images will be taken prior to oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes
Quality of Transgastric Basal Images - Post Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography transgastric basal images will be taken post oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes
Quality of Transgastric Mid Papillary Images - Pre Oral Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography transgastric mid images will be taken prior to oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes
Quality of Transgastric Mid Papillary Images - Post Oral Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography transgastric mid images will be taken post oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes
Quality of Mid Esophageal Two-Chamber Images - Pre Oral Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography mid esophageal two-chamber images will be taken prior to oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes
Quality of Mid Esophageal Two-Chamber Images - Post Oral Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography mid esophageal two-chamber images will be taken post oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes
Quality of Deep Transgastric Images - Pre Oral Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography deep transgastric images will be taken prior to oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes
Quality of Deep Transgastric Images - Post Oral Gastric Suction	Using transesophageal echocardiography deep transgastric images will be taken post oral gastric suctioning. Quality of images will be graded on a scale of 1-4 (1=excellent quality, 4=very poor quality).	60 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Wake Forest University Health Sciences
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Scott Coleman, DO, Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 22, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 30, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 30, 2025
• First Posted (Estimated): October 6, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): October 28, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 24, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: cardiac surgery; transesophageal echocardiography; gastric suction
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures; Diagnosis; Diagnostic Imaging; Diagnostic Techniques, Cardiovascular; Heart Function Tests; Echocardiography; Cardiac Imaging Techniques; Ultrasonography; Echocardiography, Transesophageal
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB00137024

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No