A comparative study of volume and pH of gastric fluid after ingestion of water and sugar-containing clear fluid in children

A prospective randomised study on 90 children aged 1-10 year was undertaken to evaluate and compare the gastric fluid volume and pH following ingestion of water and sugar-containing clear fluid given at 2, 4 and 8 hours before elective surgery. Although not diminishing the risk of aspiration, 2mlkg-1 body wt. of clear fluids given 2 hours before surgery appear to add no additional risk for aspiration of gastric contents and it may also alleviate the unpleasant pre-operative experience due to prolonged fast.