title: Pre-operative fasting for paediatric anaesthesia. A survey of current practice.
abstract: There has recently been much debate about pre-operative fasting for paediatric anaesthesia. There is no consensus about the optimum fasting times for children undergoing elective surgery. In order to establish a standard for paediatric pre-operative fasting times, we undertook a postal survey, targeting members of the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists resident in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1995. One hundred and sixty-three questionnaires were dispatched, 131 (80%) were returned and 110 (67%) were complete. The results show that the following guidelines for duration of fast are acceptable to the majority of respondents-neonates: 2 h for clear fluids, 4 h for breast and formula milk; infants: 2 h for clear fluids, 4 h for breast milk, 6 h for formula milk and solids; children: 2 h for clear fluids, 6 h for milk and solids. We suggest that these times be used as guidelines and audited for pre-operative fasting in paediatric anaesthesia.
authors.affiliation: Royal Hospitals NHS Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children, Whitechapel, London, UK.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Wrigley
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Newton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000758:Anesthesia; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005215:Fasting; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007494:Ireland; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom