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- Achim Schmitz and Alexander R Schmidt.
- Anästhesieabteilung, Universitätskinderklinik Zürich.
- Praxis (Bern 1994). 2014 Nov 12; 103 (23): 1379-84.
AbstractPreoperative fasting is essential to reduce the risk of a perioperative pulmonary aspiration in patients undergoing anaesthesia for elective surgery. Evidence and expert opinion-based guidelines suggest two, four and six hours of fasting for clear fluids, breast milk and light meals/non-clear fluids respectively to improve anaesthesia safety, patient's comfort and homeostasis. Prolonged fasting is observed in daily clinical routine but should be prevented since there are no benefits. Abnormal gastric emptying has an impact on preoperative fasting times and the choice of the anaesthesia technique. A safe anaesthesia technique is most important since gastric emptying differs in patients and there is no guarantee that the stomach is empty after fasting according to guidelines.
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