Perioperative medicine & outcomes
Benefits in adults allowed to drink clear liquids before anaesthesia until called to the operating room: A randomised pilot study
Authors' conclusion
The trial design proved feasible. Liberal fluid intake reduced thirst and headache.
Study context
- Population
- Adult surgical patients with low risk of aspiration, single academic centre in Germanyno dropouts or loss to follow-up
- Participants
- 174 patients
- Comparison
- Conservative intervention or liberal intervention vs usual care
- Primary endpoint
- Patient-reported thirst before anaesthesia induction (none, moderate, severe)
- Follow-up
- Before anaesthesia induction
Methodological detailsprospective, pilot, single-centre
- Prospective
- Pilot
- Single-centre
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
Preoperative thirst
Each group vs controlOdds ratio (95% CI)P value
Conservative intervention
0.41(0.20–0.82)
P = 0.013Liberal intervention
0.21(0.10–0.43)
P < 0.001Further findings
Fluid fasting time — Conservative intervention vs Control
P < 0.001
| Outcome | OR (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postoperative thirstLiberal intervention vs Control | 0.32 (0.13–0.75) | P = 0.009 | |
| Preoperative headacheLiberal intervention vs Control | 0.24 (0.07–0.66) | P = 0.009 | |
| 0.050.21520Odds ratio (log scale) |
| Outcome | P value |
|---|---|
| Fluid fasting timeLiberal intervention vs Control | P < 0.001 |
Blinding success
- Blinding successful
- 98.3%
Safety
- No adverse events reported
- Not powered for definitive safety conclusions
Original publication
Benefits in adults allowed to drink clear liquids before anaesthesia until called to the operating room: A randomised pilot study. Eur J Anaesthesiol. Published 18 November 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →