According to today's recommendations, children should fast completely two hours before they are to be operated on – but in a new study from Akademiska sjukhuset and Uppsala universitet it is stated that it is not necessary.
The reason for the current regulations is based on the fact that one wants to avoid aspiration – that the child vomits up food residue during anesthesia and the stomach contents end up in the lungs.
But according to the study, children can drink clear drinks, such as juice or juice, all the way up to the operation without the risk of aspiration increasing.
The researchers now hope that several hospitals change their fasting rules and emphasize that it is particularly important in warmer countries, where children can become dehydrated before the operation due to fasting.
