Audit on preoperative fasting of elective surgical patients in an African academic medical center.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative fasting is a requisite before anesthesia. The main reason for preoperative fasting is to reduce gastric volume and acidity and thus decrease the risk of pulmonary aspiration. However, preoperative fasting is usually prolonged beyond the recommended time for various reasons. Despite the many adverse effects of prolonged fasting, patients sometimes fasted for a prolonged time when surgery was delayed for different reasons at the University of Gondar Hospital. The aim of this study was to assess the duration of preoperative fasting for elective surgery.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 10 to April 10, 2013. Patients were interviewed 24 h after surgery. All 43 patients who were under anesthesia while operated on during the study period were included.

RESULT: Of the 43 patients included in the study, 35 were adults and 8 were children. The minimum, maximum, and mean fasting hours for food were 5, 96, and 19.60, respectively, and more than 50 % of the patients fasted from food twice as long as recommended. The minimum, maximum, and mean fasting hours for fluid were 5, 19, and 12.72, respectively. More than 95 % of the patients fasted from fluid longer than recommended.

CONCLUSION: Most patients fasted from both food (92 %) and fluid (95 %) longer than the fasting time recommended by the AAGBI, ASA, RCOA, and RCN fasting guidelines. Anesthetists, surgeons, and nurses need to revise operation lists every day in the operating theatres and resuscitate the patients when surgery is delayed for various reasons. A preoperative fasting guideline should be developed and implemented in the University of Gondar Hospital.