Postoperative fasting after general anaesthesia: A survey of French anaesthesiology practices

Background: Preoperative fasting is well codified worldwide. In contrast, the literature on the postoperative fasting (POF) is scarce, leading to potentially wide discrepancies among anaesthesiology practices. This survey assessed French POF practices. Methods: From March 2013 to January 2014, a survey was conducted among anaesthesiologists, members of the French Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (SFAR). The POF durations of either fluid or solid food intake was assessed according to airway management procedures (endotracheal intubation [EI] or laryngeal mask [LMA]) and age of the patients (adult or paediatric). Results: Seven hundred and fifty-four surveys were returned (67% from public hospital practitioners and 33% from private hospital and clinic practitioners). The majority of anaesthesiologists allowed fluid intake 2 h after EI and immediately after discharge from PACU following LMA. For solid food resumption, it was 2 h for children and 4 h for adults after EI and 2 h for both children and adults after LMA. Regardless of the airway management procedures, fasting was permitted immediately after PACU discharge more frequently in public than in private hospitals (36% vs. 33%, P < 0.05). Four hours after the end of surgery, the rate was significantly higher in private than in public hospitals (93% vs. 89 %, P < 0.001). Conclusions: All in all, POF lasted less than 4 hours after surgery regardless of airway management. They were shorter with regard to fluid intake, paediatric patients and LMA in comparison with solid food, adult patients and EI respectively. (C) 2017 Societe francaise d'anesthesie et de reanimation (Sfar). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.