Elif DEMİRBAŞ, Anar HAMİDOV, Ruslan ASADOV, Koray AK
Clinical and Experimental Health Sciences - 2026;16(1):26-31
Objective: We aimed to study the importance of lung ultrasonography in detecting postoperative pulmonary edema in pediatric cardiac surgery. Methods: Twenty-five patients were included. Lung ultrasonography was performed on postoperative days 0, 1, and 2 and classified into three profiles. We grouped patients according to the severity of pulmonary edema: group 1 (type A+B) and group 2 (type C). We investigated the relationship between lung profile and postoperative clinical parameters. Results: The median [minimum-maximum] age, body weight, and Aristotle score of the patients were determined as ten months [1-72], 6.6 kg [2.8-25], and 6 [3-9]. On postoperative day 0, 14 and 11 patients were present in Group 1 and Group 2, respectively. Serum proBNP levels were significantly higher in Group 1 (561 [200-21400] versus 189 [5-1940] pg/ml, p< .05). On postoperative day 1, there were eleven patients in Group 1 and fourteen in Group 2, and similarly, proBNP levels were significantly higher in Group 1 (17900 [5080-35000] versus 2400 [500-25150] pg/ml, p<.001). On postoperative day 2, there were six patients in Group 1 and 19 in Group 2, and proBNP levels were significantly higher in Group 1 (19600 [7200-28500] versus 7200 [590-26700] pg/ml, p<.01). Regarding the groups on postoperative day 0, group 1 had significantly longer ventilation time (27 [6-70] versus 21 [2-27] hours, p<.05) and intensive care unit stay (3 [1-6] versus 2 [1 - 6] days, p<.05) compared to group 2. Conclusion: Lung ultrasonography is an easy and reliable method. Its routine use might help reduce the X-ray-related health issues.
