This chapter is complementary to the others in this volume focusing on preoperative fasting
routines. In it we discuss some of the issues in need of more research to define best practice …

Fasting before general anaesthesia aims to reduce the volume and acidity of stomach
contents, thus decreasing the risk of regurgitation/aspiration. The objectives of the Cochrane …

Preoperative fasting aims to increase patient safety by reducing the risk of adverse events
during general anaesthesia. However, prolonged fasting may be associated with …

10 T. UMENAI, N. ARAI, E. CHIHARA, Effect of the preliminary hydration on gastric emptying
time for water in healthy volunteers, Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica, 2009, 53, 2, 223 …

Liberal pre‐operative fasting routines have been implemented in most countries. In general,
clear fluids are allowed up to 2 h before anaesthesia, and light meals up to 6 h. The same …

Background Fasting before general anaesthesia aims to reduce the volume and acidity of
stomach contents during surgery, thus reducing the risk of regurgitation/aspiration. Recent …

Fasting overnight has been the routine before elective surgery for the past century. Fasting
guidelines in many countries have recently been modernized and it is now recommended …

The concept of preoperative overnight fasting was challenged and proved to have no
benefits over allowing patients to drink clear fluids up until 2h before surgery. This led to …

Elective surgery has until recently been performed in the overnight fasted state in order to
reduce the risk of aspiration of gastric content during the induction of anaesthesia. However …

Despite the abundance of evidence to the contrary, 6–8 hours of total preoperative fasting is
still considered essential by many surgeons and anesthesiologists, based on the strength of …