Preoperative fasting in the day care patient population at a tertiary care, teaching institute: A prospective, cross-sectional study

Context: Patients are fasting for inappropriately long duration preoperatively despite the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) recommendations for liberal fasting guidelines. There is paucity of data on preoperative fasting duration in the day care patient population from India; hence, we studied the preoperative fasting status in the day care patient population. Aims: This study aims to study the preoperative fasting duration for solids and clear fluids and to compare the fasting times in the patients posted for the morning slot and the afternoon slot. Settings and Design: This was a prospective, observational, cross-sectional study at a tertiary care, teaching institute. Subjects and Methods: All Consenting adults, ASA grade 1 or 2, of either gender, presenting for day care surgery were included in the study. Data collected included the demographic profile, duration of fasting for solids, and clear fluids. The patients rated their hunger and thirst on a ten point numeric rating scale. We compared the fasting durations for solids and clear fluids in the patients presenting for the morning slot and afternoon slot for surgery. Statistical Analysis Used: T-test was used for analysis of continuous data with normal distribution and Mann–Whitney U-test for data with nonnormal distribution. Chi-square test was performed for categorical variables. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.05. Results: The mean duration of preoperative fasting for solids was 12.58 ± 2.70 h and for clear fluids was 9.02 ± 3.73 h. The mean fasting duration for solids in the patients presenting for the afternoon slot was significantly longer (P < 0.0001) than those presenting for the morning slot. The mean preoperative fasting duration for clear fluids was comparable among these patient groups (P = 0.0741). Conclusions: Patients are following inappropriately prolonged fasting routines, and there is a need to enforce liberal preoperative fasting guidelines to improve patient care