Benefits of no Fasting Compared to Fasting Prior to Elective Cardiac Catheterization: A Single-center Randomized-controlled Trial

Benefits of no FASTing Prior to Elective Cardiac CATHeterization (FAST CATH): A Single-center Randomized-controlled Trial Comparing a Non-fasting Pre-procedure Approach to the Standard of Care in Adults Undergoing Elective Cardiac Catheterization With Moderate Sedation

Status

Not yet recruiting

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT07150780

Acronym

FAST CATH

Enrollment

2000

Registered

2025-09-02

Start date

2025-09-10

Completion date

2028-02-10

Last updated

2025-09-02

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

Conditions

Cardiac Catheterization, Cardiac Diseases, Coronary Artery Disease

Keywords

Cardiac catheterization, Fasting, Patient Satisfaction

Brief summary

More than one million cardiac catheterizations (CCs) are performed annually in the United States and the majority are elective. Current guidelines recommend no fasting prior to elective CC, however recent studies suggest that eating and drinking as desired prior to elective CCs involving moderate sedation is safe. This project will study the potential benefits of allowing patients to eat before elective CCs. Participants will be randomly divided into two groups. One group will receive pre-op instructions to fast, and the other group will be allowed to eat and drink as desired prior to their CC. Researchers will compare these groups with regards to patient satisfaction and respiratory complications.

Interventions

PROCEDUREPre-operative instructions to eat and drink at liberty

Subjects will be instructed to eat and drink at liberty prior to their schedule elective cardiac catheterization.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* Willing to comply with all study procedures and remain in contact with the study team to complete study assessments for the duration of the study * Scheduled for an elective (non-urgent) cardiac catheterization * Age of 18 or older at the time of consent

Exclusion criteria

* Adults unable to consent * Pregnant women * Incarceration * Non-English-speaking patients * Inability to eat by mouth * Patients requiring general anesthesia for cardiac catheterization * Inability to fast for at least 6 hours * Personal history of pulmonary aspiration, or other known cardiopulmonary anesthetic complication(s) * Urgent cardiac catheterization * Inability or unwillingness to comply with all study procedures * Previously enrolled in this study (patients may not be enrolled more than once for subsequent procedures)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Patient Satisfaction	Immediate pre-procedure period, not more than four hours before procedure start-time.	Six-point ordinal scale response preoperative fasting questionnaire. Self-reported.
Pulmonary aspiration/pneumonitis/pneumonia	From procedure start time to 48 hours post-procedure.	Indicated by an acute change in oxygen requirement noted in the procedure note or post-procedure progress note. Assessed by chart review. Present/absent.

Contacts

Primary ContactErik H Howell, MD, MSc

ehowell2@mhc.net231-935-5800

Outcome results

None listed

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