INTRODUCTION Despite the well-documented safety of transesophageal echocardiograms (TEEs), inpatient gastroenterology (GI) services are called to clear patients for the procedure when they have GI symptoms or comorbidities ranging from mild to clinically significant. We aimed to assess the clinical utility of such consults in preventing TEE complications. METHODS We performed a prospective cohort study of all inpatients at our institution who had a TEE ordered from 7/1/2021 through 7/1/2022. Patients' demographic information, indications for TEE, complications from TEE, 30-day readmission rates, GI team recommendations, and results of any GI-related interventions were collected and analyzed. RESULTS There were 732 patients who had a TEE ordered during our study period, of whom 641 (87.51%) underwent the procedure. Of the 91 (12.49%) who did not have a TEE, none were canceled due to a GI-related concern. There were 23 of 641 patients (3.59%) with complications from the TEE, none of which were GI-related. The GI team was consulted on 36 patients (4.96% of TEEs ordered) and cleared 22 of 36 (61.11%) with no further testing while the remaining 14 of 36 patients (38.89%) underwent workups that were largely normal. Patients who had a GI consult before their TEE had a significantly longer time between their TEE being ordered and the TEE being performed compared with those who did not have a GI consult before their TEE (4.50 days vs 0.77 days, P < 0.01). DISCUSSION Inpatient GI team workups to clear patients for a TEE found no contraindications to TEEs, did not change patient care plans, and led to increased hospital costs and lengths of stay.

中文翻译：

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在一项前瞻性队列研究中，在进行经食管超声心动图检查之前，住院胃肠病学咨询几乎没有什么用处。


简介 尽管经食管超声心动图 (TEE) 的安全性已得到充分证明，但当患者出现胃肠道症状或合并症（从轻微到临床意义不等）时，住院胃肠病学 (GI) 服务部门仍会要求患者进行手术。我们的目的是评估此类咨询在预防 TEE 并发症方面的临床效用。方法 我们对 2021 年 7 月 1 日至 2022 年 7 月 1 日期间在我们机构订购 TEE 的所有住院患者进行了一项前瞻性队列研究。收集并分析了患者的人口统计信息、TEE 适应症、TEE 并发症、30 天再入院率、GI 团队建议以及任何 GI 相关干预措施的结果。结果 在我们的研究期间，共有 732 名患者接受了 TEE，其中 641 名（87.51%）接受了该手术。在 91 名 (12.49%) 没有 TEE 的人中，没有人因 GI 相关问题而被取消。 641 名患者中有 23 名 (3.59%) 出现 TEE 并发症，其中没有一个与胃肠道相关。 GI 团队对 36 名患者（订购的 TEE 的 4.96%）进行了咨询，并在 36 名患者中清除了 22 名（61.11%），无需进一步检测，而 36 名患者中的其余 14 名患者（38.89%）接受了基本正常的检查。与在 TEE 之前没有进行胃肠道咨询的患者相比，在 TEE 之前进行过胃肠道咨询的患者从订购 TEE 到进行 TEE 之间的时间明显更长（4.50 天 vs 0.77 天，P < 0.01）。讨论 住院胃肠道团队对患者进行 TEE 检查，发现没有 TEE 禁忌症，没有改变患者护理计划，并导致住院费用和住院时间增加。