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. 2025 Nov 17;10(2):46-52.
doi: 10.24908/pocusj.v10i02.18912. eCollection 2025 Nov.

Assessment of the Association Between Lung POCUS Findings During Preoperative Assessment and Cardiopulmonary Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Surgery: A Pilot Study Protocol

Leonidas Palaiodimos  1   2   3 , Sriram Sunil Kumar  1   2 , Perminder Gulani  1   2 , Maisha Maliha  1   2 , Adam Mylonakis  3 , Lori Lemberg  1   2 , Mindaugas Pranevicius  1   4 , Robert T Faillace  1   2 , Ilias I Siembos  5 , Benjamin Galen  2   6 , Dimitrios Schizas  3
Affiliations

Assessment of the Association Between Lung POCUS Findings During Preoperative Assessment and Cardiopulmonary Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Surgery: A Pilot Study Protocol

Leonidas Palaiodimos et al. POCUS J. .

Abstract

Abdominal surgeries make up a significant portion of all surgical procedures performed worldwide. Despite advances in surgical techniques, there is significant morbidity and mortality associated with abdominal surgeries. Cardiopulmonary complications in the postoperative period play an important part in the elevated risk associated with these surgeries. Preoperative medical assessments have therefore become the standard of care to evaluate the risk of surgery, optimize a patient's medical conditions, and mitigate the perioperative risk. While there has been increasing utilization of lung point of care ultrasound (POCUS) in the immediate preoperative setting, the use of lung POCUS at the preoperative medical assessment clinic visit has not been studied. While using risk stratification tools is common in current practice, the role of adjunctive office-based techniques like lung POCUS have not been studied in this setting. We conducted an observational prospective pilot study to evaluate the association of lung POCUS findings in the preoperative visit on the risk of adverse cardiopulmonary outcomes in the 30-day postoperative period after major abdominal surgery. A standardized scoring system called integrated lung ultrasound score (iLUS) is used for objective assessment. Our study attempted to determine whether the addition of lung POCUS can be used to better stratify the risk for postoperative complications.

Keywords: Lung POCUS; Noncardiac surgery; Peri-operative; Point of care ultrasound (POCUS).

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The six chest areas per side considered for complete 12-zone lung POCUS examination. Areas 1 and 2 denote the upper anterior and lower anterior chest areas, respectively. Areas 3 and 4 denote the upper lateral and basal lateral chest areas, respectively. Areas 5 and 6 denote the upper posterior and lower posterior chest areas, respectively [31].
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Process flowchart of the study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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