Pre-operative fasting guidelines for children having day surgery

Communication between child, family and health professionals is an important component in promoting effective clinical practice for children undergoing day surgery involving a general anaesthetic. This is crucial in relation to pre-operative fasting. Two local audits of whether families adhered to existing guidelines showed that many parents did not follow the fasting instructions. This article explores the reasons behind this finding, and suggests that adherence to the best practice guidelines may be improved by a one-to-one discussion at the pre-admission clinic or by offering families the opportunity to ask questions by text message.