• M Carolina Cabrera, Emilio Santelices, and Rodrigo Hernández.
• Departamento de Anestesiología, Hospital Clínico Fuerza Aérea de Chile, Santiago de Chile. carol218@vtr.net
• Rev Med Chil. 2004 Jul 1; 132 (7): 823-31.

BackgroundTransesophageal echocardiography allows a semi-invasive hemodynamic monitoring, during cardiac and non cardiac surgery. The benefits of such surveillance must be assessed, since it may help to change patient management.AimTo assess the usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography during surgical procedures in critical patients.Material And MethodsBased on the indications of the North American Societies of Cardiology and Anesthesiology, 264 patients were monitored using a multiplanar transducer. The type of surgery, insertion difficulties, quality of visualization, complications and usefulness of the method were recorded.ResultsOne hundred eleven cardiac and 153 non cardiac surgical procedures were monitored. In 97% of cases, visualization was good. In 2 cases, it was impossible to obtain a transgastric axis. No complications of the procedure were recorded. The method was useless in nine patients, helpful to change drug and volume management in 126 (48%) patients, helpful to change perioperative management in 49 (19%) patients and was a substitute for pulmonary artery catheterization in 79 (30%) patients.ConclusionsIntraoperative transesophageal echocardiography is a safe technique that renders high quality images, with a low incidence of complications and that, when well indicated, orients therapeutic changes in 98% of patients.

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