Fasting before surgery?

Question

why do u need to fast before having anasetehtic

Answer 1

The anasetehtic can make people throw up, So they like you to have an empty stomach.  Stops anything nasty happeningin the operating theater.

Answer 2

1] all anesthetists require fasting before surgery.

2] people who don't fast frequently vomit; and since they are unconscious, will aspirate [ inhale ] it into their lungs

3] this causes a deadly lung infection, which many do NOT suvive.

Seriously - one lady decided to eat a burger on her way to a [ scheduled ] Csection - died.

Another ate before surgery - spent FOUR WEEKS in ICU, on a ventilator, close to death. Doesn't remember anything about the birth or the first month of baby's life.

Answer 3

Should you happen to vomit, there is less there to choke you to death.

Also, digesting food creates gas in your intestinal system.  That causes access problems as well as noise and smell if that is the surgery site.  Infections are hard to deal with in that area.

Answer 4

If the surgery involves the digestive system, the patient may be instructed to perform a bowel prep by drinking a solution of polyethylene glycol the night before the procedure. Patients are also instructed to abstain from food or drink (an NPO order after midnight on the night before the procedure, to minimize the effect of stomach contents on pre-operative medications and reduce the risk of aspiration if the patient vomits during or after the procedure.

Answer 5

you throw up

Answer 6

so yr stomach is empty and u dont vomit, under anaesthetic u could inhale it. if surgery is emergency then they can deal with it by putting a tube down (not pleasant ive been there on that one)  but they prefer to make sure yr stomach is empty prior to elective surgery

Answer 7

LOL... Props to Pangolin!  Yeah, despite the widely held belief that physicians enjoy being mean or otherwise hurtful to the patients we treat, there's usually a very sound basis for the advice we give and the instructions we provide.  We need you to fast prior to various types of anesthesia to make sure you don't aspirate.  If we can't secure your airway and be relatively comfortable that you won't throw up, it can be fatal, so we really don't like to see our patients get more sick or heaven forbid die from we do, that's why we need you to have a 'relatively empty stomach' before the administration of anesthesia.

Some docs can be mean, but not many like to keep patients unnecessarily hungry (hungry patients aren't very happy).

Answer 8

Ye i think so, 24hrs

Answer 9

General anesthesia causes you to be unable to protect your airway from regurgitated food.  Anything in your stomach can come up and go down into your lungs (aspiration) and cause a nasty inflammation, or even death (aspiration pneumonitis).

The severity of the inflammation from aspiration is related to the volume, consistency and pH of what you aspirate.  A little water doesn't hurt much, but a Big Mac in the lungs can kill you.

Guidelines vary, but in healthy people, 6-8 hours for solids and a minimum of 2-3 hours for clear liquids is recommended.  Many places go with a strict NOTHING after midnight, because schedules can change, and if you've eaten, you can't move earlier.  There is also the very real problem of patients misunderstanding what constitutes a clear liquid (like mistaking cookies or Doritos for it... no joke).  People with certain conditions have prolonged stomach emptying, and they may need ot be without food longer.

A full stomach is also likely to make you feel nauseated after surgery, but that's more of an inconvenience than a safety risk.  If you want to make yourself sick, then you have to deal with the consequences.  It's the whole "inhaling your vomit" thing that really concerns us.

Even if you don't plan on having a general anesthetic, you need to fast because every anesthetic is a potential general anesthetic.  Even too much local anesthesia can make you have a seizure, and put you at risk for aspiration.

We don't do it to be mean, just to be safe.