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Fasting

Fasting before undergoing anaesthesia is very important for your safety during the procedure. When you eat or drink, your stomach holds food and fluids. During anaesthesia, your body’s ability to protect your airways is reduced, meaning there is a risk that food or liquids from your stomach could move into your lungs. This is called aspiration and can lead to serious complications such as lung infections or difficulty breathing.

By not eating or drinking before the procedure, you lower the chances of this happening and help ensure that your surgery or procedure goes as smoothly and safely as possible. This is why we ask you to follow specific fasting instructions before receiving anaesthesia.

As a rule, you should refrain from eating any food for 6 hours before your arrival time at the hospital. This includes lollies, mints and chewing gum.

If your procedure is in the morning, you must start fasting from midnight the night before. For surgeries scheduled in the afternoon you may have a light breakfast of a non-fatty and low calorific nature. An example of a light breakfast is toast or cereal. Calorie dense and fatty foods such as fried eggs and bacon should be avoided.  Any food should be finished a minimum of 6 hours prior to your admission time.

You may continue to drink water and small amounts of permitted clear liquids up until 2 hours before your procedure.

Permitted clear liquids are black tea, black coffee, cordial, and pulp-free juice ONLY. Milk or drinks containing pulp are considered solids and not permitted.

Failure to adhere to these instructions may result in a delay or cancellation of your procedure due to the increased risk of serious complications during anaesthesia.

Prior to your procedure you will be issued fasting instructions from your anaesthetist, this will note if there are any additional considerations, including specific fasting instructions for paediatric patients. 

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Medications

As a general rule, you can continue taking your prescribed medications unless otherwise directed by your surgeon or anaesthetist, including on the day of surgery.

There are special considerations for patients taking diabetic medications and blood thinning/anticoagulant medications. If you are taking drugs in these categories, or dietary supplements which may also lead to blood thinning (e.g. Fish oil, Krill oil, Glucosamine, Garlic, Ginko and/or Ginger) it is important you advise your anaesthetist as soon as possible as adjustments may be necessary.

If you have a planned procedure, our team will email you a health questionnaire asking you to list your medications. This list will be forwarded to your anaesthetist who will contact you prior to your procedure with further instructions.