• A R Schmidt, P Buehler, L Seglias, T Stark, B Brotschi, T Renner, C Sabandal, R Klaghofer, M Weiss, and A Schmitz.
• Department of Anaesthesia, University Children's Hospital, Steinwiesstrasse 75, Zurich CH-8032, Switzerland alexander.schmidt@kispi.uzh.ch.
• Br J Anaesth. 2015 Mar 1;114(3):477-82.

IntroductionCurrent 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.MethodsChildren (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<0.05).ResultsIn 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<0.001), no significant difference was observed regarding gastric pH [1.43 (1.30-1.56)/1.44 (1.29-1.68), P=0.66] or residual volume [0.43 (0.21-0.84)/0.46 (0.19-0.78) ml kg(-1), P=0.47].ConclusionOne hour clear fluid fasting does not alter gastric pH or residual volume significantly compared with 2 h fasting.Clinical Trial RegistrationThe study was approved by the local ethics committee (KEK-ZH-Nr. 2011-0034) and registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01516775).© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Journal of Anaesthesia. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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