Roberto Venco, Alessandro Artale, Paolo Formenti, Cristian Deana, Giovanni Mistraletti, Michele Umbrello
{"title":"Methodologies and clinical applications of lower limb muscle ultrasound in critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Roberto Venco, Alessandro Artale, Paolo Formenti, Cristian Deana, Giovanni Mistraletti, Michele Umbrello","doi":"10.1186/s13613-024-01395-y","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Reduced muscle mass upon admission and development of muscle wasting are frequent in critically ill patients, and linked to unfavorable outcomes. Muscle ultrasound is a promising instrument for evaluating muscle mass. We summarized the findings of lower limb muscle ultrasound values and investigated how the muscle ultrasound parameters of the examination or the patient characteristics influence the results.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of lower limb ultrasound critically ill adults. PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PEDro and Web of Science were searched. PRISMA guidelines were followed, and studies evaluated with the appropriate NIH quality assessment tool. A meta-analysis was conducted to compare the values at admission, short and long follow-up during ICU stay, and the association between baseline values and patient characteristics or ultrasound parameters was investigated with a meta-regression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Sixty-six studies (3839 patients) were included. The main muscles investigated were rectus femoris cross-sectional area (RF-CSA, n = 33/66), quadriceps muscle layer thickness (n = 32/66), and rectus femoris thickness (n = 19/66). Significant differences were found in the anatomical landmark and ultrasound settings. At ICU admission, RF-CSA ranged from 1.1 [0.73-1.47] to 6.36 [5.45-7.27] cm<sup>2</sup> (pooled average 2.83 [2.29-3.37] cm<sup>2</sup>) with high heterogeneity among studies (I<sup>2</sup> = 98.43%). Higher age, higher BMI, more distal landmark and the use of probe compression were associated with lower baseline muscle mass.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Measurements of muscle mass using ultrasound varied with reference to patient characteristics, patient position, anatomical landmarks used for measurement, and the level of compression applied by the probe; this constrains the external validity of the results and highlights the need for standardization.</p><p><strong>Study registration: </strong>PROSPERO CRD42023420376.</p>","PeriodicalId":7966,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Intensive Care","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11499498/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of Intensive Care","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s13613-024-01395-y","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Reduced muscle mass upon admission and development of muscle wasting are frequent in critically ill patients, and linked to unfavorable outcomes. Muscle ultrasound is a promising instrument for evaluating muscle mass. We summarized the findings of lower limb muscle ultrasound values and investigated how the muscle ultrasound parameters of the examination or the patient characteristics influence the results.
Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of lower limb ultrasound critically ill adults. PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, PEDro and Web of Science were searched. PRISMA guidelines were followed, and studies evaluated with the appropriate NIH quality assessment tool. A meta-analysis was conducted to compare the values at admission, short and long follow-up during ICU stay, and the association between baseline values and patient characteristics or ultrasound parameters was investigated with a meta-regression.
Results: Sixty-six studies (3839 patients) were included. The main muscles investigated were rectus femoris cross-sectional area (RF-CSA, n = 33/66), quadriceps muscle layer thickness (n = 32/66), and rectus femoris thickness (n = 19/66). Significant differences were found in the anatomical landmark and ultrasound settings. At ICU admission, RF-CSA ranged from 1.1 [0.73-1.47] to 6.36 [5.45-7.27] cm2 (pooled average 2.83 [2.29-3.37] cm2) with high heterogeneity among studies (I2 = 98.43%). Higher age, higher BMI, more distal landmark and the use of probe compression were associated with lower baseline muscle mass.
Conclusions: Measurements of muscle mass using ultrasound varied with reference to patient characteristics, patient position, anatomical landmarks used for measurement, and the level of compression applied by the probe; this constrains the external validity of the results and highlights the need for standardization.
期刊介绍:
Annals of Intensive Care is an online peer-reviewed journal that publishes high-quality review articles and original research papers in the field of intensive care medicine. It targets critical care providers including attending physicians, fellows, residents, nurses, and physiotherapists, who aim to enhance their knowledge and provide optimal care for their patients. The journal's articles are included in various prestigious databases such as CAS, Current contents, DOAJ, Embase, Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, OCLC, PubMed, PubMed Central, Science Citation Index Expanded, SCOPUS, and Summon by Serial Solutions.