Key result
Pre-operative starvation times significantly exceed hospital policy, reaching ~10 hours in children.
Why the study?
Pre-operative starvation times at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary exceed the hospital's official policy and may pose risks such as hypoglycaemia in children.
Observational
No
A clinical audit reveals that pre-operative starvation times significantly exceed hospital policy, highlighting a need to improve regimens to prevent risks such as hypoglycemia in children.
Excessive pre-operative fasting may raise hypoglycemia risk in children; leaves open whether revised protocols safely shorten starvation times.
An audit of pre-operative starvation at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary has been undertaken. It shows that both adults and children are starved for significantly longer than the hospital's official starvation policy requires. The mean starvation time for children was almost 10 h, which is longer than the 8 h required before hypoglycaemia becomes a risk. A review of the literature suggests that only 3 h of fluid withdrawal is necessary. Possible ways to improve pre-operative starvation regimens are discussed.
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MacLean et al. (1993) conducted an observational in Pre-operative starvation. Pre-operative starvation vs. Hospital's official starvation policy was evaluated on Starvation time. Pre-operative starvation times for both adults and children significantly exceeded the hospital's official policy, with children experiencing a mean starvation time of almost 10 hours.
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