Gastric pH and Residual Volume After 1 and 2 h Fasting Time for Clear Fluids in Children

Abstract

Introduction Current guidelines suggest a fasting time of 2 h for clear fluids, which is often exceeded in clinical practice, leading to discomfort, dehydration and stressful anaesthesia induction to patients, especially in the paediatric population. Shorter fluid fasting might be a strategy to improve patient comfort but has not been investigated yet. This prospective clinical trial compares gastric pH and residual volume after 1 vs 2 h of preoperative clear fluid fasting. Methods Children (1–16 yr, ASA I or II) undergoing elective procedures in general anaesthesia requiring tracheal intubation were randomized into group A with 60 min or B with 120 min preoperative clear fluid fasting. To determine gastric pH and residual volume, the gastric content was sampled in supine, left and right lateral patient position using an oro-gastric tube after intubation. Data are median (interquartile range) for group A or B (P Results In total, 131 children aged 1.01–16.23 yr were included; gastric pH was determined in 120 cases. Patient characteristic data were similar between the two groups, except for gender (46/33 males in group A/B; P=0.02). Despite significantly shorter fasting times for clear fluids in group A compared with group B (76/136 min; P Conclusion One hour clear fluid fasting does not alter gastric pH or residual volume significantly compared with 2 h fasting. Clinical trial registration The study was approved by the local ethics committee (KEK-ZH-Nr. 2011-0034) and registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01516775).