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A Pilot Study of the Effects of 4 vs 3 Hours of Preoperative Fasting in Breast-feeding Infants

A Pilot Study of the Effects of 4 vs 3 Hours of Preoperative Fasting in Breast-feeding Infants

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05573165
Acronym
BMRCT
Enrollment
20
Registered
2022-10-10
Start date
2023-01-16
Completion date
2024-02-05
Last updated
2024-03-22

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Perioperative Complication

Keywords

Preoperative fasting, Anaesthesia, Children, breast-feeding

Brief summary

In the new guideline from ESAIC breast-feeding should be encouraged until 3 hours before anesthesia. This recommendation was based mainly on gastric emptying studies in neonates with small sample sizes and single center experience.To address the lack of high quality evidence for this recommendation, the ESAIC task force for preoperative fasting plans perform a multicenter RCT omparing 4 vs 3 hours of preoperative fasting for breast milk. The aim of the present pilot-study is to provide data for sample size calculation and feasibility for the multicenter trial.

Detailed description

Since the publication of several studies indicating that many children are subjected to unnecessarily long fasting waiting for surgery, there is great interest within the pediatric anesthesia community to understand gastric emptying to be able to revise existing guidelines. The new recommendation from ESAIC is that breast-feeding should be encouraged until 3 hours before anesthesia. This recommendation was based mainly on gastric emptying studies in neonates with small sample sizes and single center experience.To address the lack of high quality evidence for this recommendation, the task force plans to perform a multicenter RCT comparing 4 vs 3 hours of preoperative fasting for breast milk. Twenty infants scheduled for elective surgery or procedures requiring general anesthesia or sedation will be recruited for this randomized controlled pilot study. Based on the randomization, they are then asked to breast-feed (or bottle-feed with breast-milk) the child at 4 or 3 hours before the scheduled anesthesia induction. On arrival to the operating room, the gastric ultrasound examination will be performed for analysis of the gastric antrum CSA. After i.v. or inhalational anesthesia, an oro-gastric catheter will be inserted and any residual gastric contents are aspirated when rotating the infant from supine to semi-prone right and left positions. The volume and color of the aspirate will be recorded. The aim of the present pilot-study is to provide data for sample size calculation and feasibility for the multicenter trial.

Interventions

OTHER3 hours of preoperative fasting for breast milk

3 hours of preoperative fasting for breast milk

OTHER4 hours of preoperative fasting for breast milk

4 hours of preoperative fasting for breast milk

Sponsors

Uppsala University Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Masking description

Computerized randomization,

Intervention model description

Prospective randomized controlled pilot study

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
0 Years to 24 Months
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

\- Breast-feeding infanta scheduled for elective procedure requiring general anesthesia

Exclusion criteria

* infant that does not breast-feed or is bottle-fed breast-milk * Moderate to severe gastrointestinal motility disorder. * Emergency surgery. * Age \> 24 months or age \< 37 gestational weeks * parents incapable of understanding the consent information due to language barrier

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
CSAFrom arrival in the operating room until induction of anesthesiaGastric antrum CSA (The antral cross-sectional area)

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Aspirated volumeintraoperativeAspirated volume

Countries

Sweden

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026