Pre-surgery: How long do children need to fast before an operation?
Usually an automatic reflex prevents stomach contents or acids from regurgitating, or coming back up the throat. However general anaesthetic puts this reflex out of action. This means that it is easier for stomach contents to come up the throat and get into the windpipe. If it is then breathed into the lungs, it can cause a life-threatening infection.
Because of this concern, children and adults are asked not to eat or drink in the last hours before an operation. However there are widely varying opinions on how long this fast should be. Between four and eight hours is a common fasting period for children. This can be a very long time for children.
In order to find out how long children need to fast before surgery, researchers from the Cochrane Collaboration analysed all the reliable trials they could find. They found 23 altogether, in which some children still had something to drink a short time before the operation, and some had some light food to eat.
These trials showed that children who had water or apple juice two hours before the operation did not have more contents or acids in their stomachs than those children who fasted longer. That suggests that those children were not at increased risk of regurgitating than the other children.
The children and their parents were also asked how much of a burden the time without food and drink was for the children. The clear result was that children who only had to fast for the shorter time were less hungry and thirsty. Besides, they felt better and were more patient than children who fasted longer.
- Created (German version): February 21st 2006 16:05
- Last update: April 16th 2006 10:30
- History: Show list
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Source: Brady M, Kinn S, O'Rourke K, Randhawa N, Stuart P. Preoperative fasting for preventing perioperative complications in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 2 of 2005. (Cochrane Database)