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Sugarless gum chewing before surgery does not increase gastric fluid volume or acidity
S A Dubin1, H G Jense, J M McCranie
1Department of Anesthesiology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912.
Summary
Chewing sugarless gum before surgery does not increase gastric volume or acidity. Anesthesia and surgery can proceed safely, even if patients chew gum contrary to pre-operative instructions.
Area of Science:
- Anesthesiology
- Gastroenterology
- Surgical Patient Management
Background:
- Patients sometimes chew gum before surgery, despite fasting instructions.
- This practice raises concerns among anesthesiologists regarding increased gastric volume and acidity.
- Concerns may lead to unnecessary surgical delays.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of sugarless gum chewing on gastric volume and acidity.
- To determine if gum chewing impacts patient safety during anesthesia induction.
- To provide evidence-based guidance for managing patients who chew gum pre-operatively.
Main Methods:
- Seventy-seven patients were recruited and divided into three groups.
- Group 1: Overnight fast (control).
- Group 2: Overnight fast, chewed gum prior to anesthesia.
- Group 3: Overnight fast, chewed gum until immediately before anesthesia induction.
- Gastric volume and pH were measured post-induction and intubation.
Main Results:
- No statistically significant differences in gastric volume were observed between the control group and the gum-chewing groups.
- No significant differences in gastric pH were found across all three groups.
- No correlation was found between gastric content and the duration of gum chewing or time since discarding gum.
Conclusions:
- Chewing sugarless gum prior to anesthesia does not significantly alter gastric volume or acidity.
- Anesthesia induction and surgery are safe for patients who have chewed sugarless gum.
- Surgical delays due to pre-operative gum chewing are generally unnecessary.