Several papers in the 1980s questioned the wisdom of withholding clear liquids for more than 3 h before elective surgery. Furthermore, recent papers have suggested relaxing the current NPO after midnight (Latin: Nulla per os; or "nothing by mouth") practice in children and adults. To see whether the policy and practice regarding NPO status before elective surgery have changed in the United Stat...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Preoperative tests aim to reduce morbidity and mortality of surgical patients, cost of perioperative care, and preoperative anxiety. Clinical evaluation allows defining the need for additional tests and strategies to reduce the surgical-anesthetic risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefit of routine preoperative testing of low-risk patients undergoing min...

Aim: To determine the net effect of strict maternal short term fasting on fetal biophysical parameters. Study Design: Prospective observational study among healthy women with a single term fetus, delivered by scheduled cesarean who had strict preoperative fast. Each subject serves as its own control. The Biophysical Profile Score was recorded. Statistics used paired t , non parametric Wilcoxon ...

Pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents is one of the most feared complications of anaesthesia. Prevention of aspiration by identification of patients at risk, preoperative fasting, drug treatment and various anaesthetic manoeuvres are cornerstones of safe anaesthetic practice. Not surprisingly, the number of articles and case reports regarding the pulmonary consequences of gastric aspiration ...

Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia techniques placed under general anesthesia have not been reported in pediatric patients with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP). A 9-year-old male with AIP presented for right inguinal herniorraphy. Family history included one relative's death after anesthesia. Preoperative preparation included reviewing medications safe for AIP patients, minimizing known A...

BACKGROUND Relatively little is known about changes in eating behavior or hormonal responses to food after bariatric surgery in adolescents. OBJECTIVE This study compared eating behavior and hormones among adolescents in a bariatric surgery program with those in nonoverweight control adolescents and evaluated changes before and after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). DESIGN Fa...

Objective: Pulmonary aspiration of the gastric contents is one of the most feared complications in anesthesia. Its prevention depends on preoperative fasting as well as identification of risky patients. A reliable diagnostic tool to assess gastric volume is currently lacking. The aim of this study performed on volunteers was to evaluate the feasibility of ultrasonography to identify qualitative...