Reducing fasting time for breast milk to 3 hours
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A prospective interventional study analysing gastric residual volumes and pH in infants fed breast milk 3 hours prior to general anaesthesia
IRAS ID
314367
Contact name
Emily Saffer
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Children and adults are fasted prior to general anaesthesia (GA) in order to reduce the amount of gastric contents left in the stomach. If gastric contents enter the lungs under anaesthesia it can cause serious harm through lung inflammation and injury.
The detrimental effects of prolonged fasting in young children prior to general anaesthesia (GA) is well known. Current UK guidance recommends a fasting time of 4 hours for breast milk prior to GA. Gastric emptying (GE) of breast milk has been extensively studied in neonatal intensive care settings for premature babies, in order to establish optimum feeding regimens for growth.
The aim of this study is to ascertain the pH and gastric residual volume (GRV) in 35 term, healthy infants who are given breast milk 3 hours prior to general anaesthesia.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/WM/0161
Date of REC Opinion
3 Aug 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion