Abstract
In Japan, long periods of preoperative fasting are used to prevent vomiting and aspiration upon induction of general anesthesia. However, it was recently suggested that such fasting might decrease the amount of water in the body and increase the perioperative volume of infusion in a patient undergoing surgery. This suggestion has led to a discussion of approaches to shorten the fasting period. With this background, preoperative fasting guidelines were established by the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists. In this report, we discuss the studies that contributed to the establishment of the guidelines, the operation of overseas guidelines, and actual cases of oral rehydration therapy.
