Operating under the assumption that eating before surgery will give way to complications, many hospitals and healthcare providers are enforcing strict “nil by mouth” protocols for patients before surgery. But research is now showing that forbidding patients to eat or drink anything before surgery has unintended consequences. In this article, we’ll look at the implications of eating before surgery and discuss what healthcare professionals should keep in mind.
1. Understanding the Risks of Eating Before Surgery
Eating before a surgery may seem harmless, but it can actually lead to some unintended consequences. While it’s important to stay nourished, it needs to be done carefully. Here are some potential risks to be aware of:
- Increased risk of anaesthesia-related nausea and vomiting. Eating before a surgery has been linked to nausea and vomiting afterwards. This is particularly true with general anaesthesia.
- Underlying medical conditions. Some medical conditions, such as diabetes and acid reflux, can be aggravated by eating before a surgery.
- Regurgitation. Your stomach might not always agree with anaesthesia – food or drink close to a surgery can lead to stomach regurgitation.
- Cancelled or delayed procedure. Eating too close to a surgery may even lead to the procedure being cancelled or delayed.
Therefore, it is crucial to understand the risks of eating before surgery and ask your doctor about which restrictions you should follow to stay healthy and safe. They might recommend avoiding eating for a period of time before surgery, or just not eating anything after midnight. It’s important to follow their instructions to make sure you’re being safe.
2. Why Is Eating Before Surgery Risky?
Eating certain foods before surgery can have a range of unintended consequences. When preparing for a surgical procedure, many people are advised to abstain from eating or drinking for a period prior to the procedure. Here we will explore the risks of eating before surgery, and why it’s important to follow pre-surgical instructions.
- Aspiration Pneumonia: Food and liquids that remain in the stomach can be inhaled (known as aspiration) into the lungs during surgery, leading to an aspiration pneumonia. In some cases, this can be life-threatening.
- Delayed Surgery: If a person has recently eaten before the surgery, anesthesia and the procedure itself can take longer to perform, which can cause delays in the surgical process.
- Complications During Surgery: When people eat prior to surgery, it can cause six-fold increase in stomach acid, making a surgical procedure even more risky. In some cases, medical professionals have had to discontinue a surgery if the acid levels become too high.
Eating before surgery can lead to a range of possible negative outcomes, from delayed surgeries and potentially life-threatening aspiration pneumonia, to increased risk and complications during the procedure. For these reasons, it’s important to heed your doctor’s advice and to refrain from eating and drinking prior to surgery.
3. What Are the Unintended Consequences of Eating Before Surgery?
Eating before surgery may seem harmless, but the unintended consequences of doing so can be severe. Before preparing for surgery, familiarize yourself with the following:
- Malnutrition: Eating before surgery can cause loss of appetite, which can lead to malnutrition. This can result in the body not receiving the necessary amount of nutrients to heal.
- Dehydration: Digesting food close-by to your surgery time can lead to dehydration. This can lead to longer recovery times due to the body being unable to absorb the necessary amount of fluids.
- Infections: When food is being digested, it can slow down the healing process, which can lead to the risk of infection. An infection can lead to complications, or worse, cancelation of surgery.
Ensure that all necessary steps are taken to minimize the risk of any unintended consequences before eating before surgery.
4. Tips for a Successful Outcome After Eating Before Surgery
1. Make sure it’s on the pre-approved list: It’s important that you talk to your doctor and find out what foods are pre-approved for eating before surgery and stick with those. Anything else, no matter how healthy, poses a risk for an unintended consequence.
2. Keep it light: Anything that is heavy on grease, fat, or sugar can be especially risky before surgery. Stick with something light that is easy to digest and won’t take a long time to move through your system.
3. Take it easy: Don’t overdo it with a heavy meal before surgery, as this can lead to an adverse reaction during the operation. Instead, have a light snack or something easy to digest like Jell-O or yogurt.
4. Stay on schedule: Eating too early or too late can cause problems, so take a look at the time frame that has been provided by your doctor or surgeon and stick to it.
5. Hydrate: Make sure that you’re drinking plenty of fluids before surgery to keep your body hydrated, as this can help avoid potential complications.
6. Avoid alcohol: Although it might seem like a good way to calm your nerves before surgery, drinking alcohol is not recommended under any circumstance.
Conclusion
Overall, it is important to be informed of all the possible outcomes of having food or drink before surgery, and to follow instructions exactly as prescribed by the doctor or medical care professionals. Eating before surgery is not recommended, but should a person need to have something, it is best to use caution and to ask for guidance.