Assessment of gastric contents in elective paediatric surgery.

Rationale:
The current guidelines for perioperative fasting in paediatric patients recommend 6 h for solids, 4 h for breast milk, and 2 h for clear fluids prior to anaesthesia (6-4-2 regime). In Sweden a more liberal fasting regime has been implemented for more than a decade. Children scheduled for elective procedures requiring anaesthesia are allowed to drink clear fluids until they are called to the operating room (6-4-0) regime. Increased gastric content volume is one of the contributing factors for regurgitation and pulmonary aspiration.

Objective:
Estimate the total gastric volume quantitatively and determine qualitatively gastric contents by gastric ultrasound after the implementation of the liberal 6-4-0 h regime.

Study design:
A prospective observational study.

Study population:
Paediatric patients up to sixteen years of age for elective surgery

Intervention (if applicable): NA

Main study parameters/endpoints:
To assess the total gastric volume quantitatively and qualitatively with paediatric patients after implantation of the liberal (6-4-0) regime for fasting.

Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness:
By using a non-invasive instrument and minimizing the duration of the research to a few minutes with every patient we try to minimize the potential risk and burden.

Gastric fluid volumes in patients with a 6-4-0 pre-operative fasting regime are comparable to patients with a 6-4-2 pre-operative fasting regime

One-time measurement, directly pre-operatively

NA (Observational)