Perioperative medicine & outcomes
Pre-operative liquid fasting practices in twelve European countries: A prospective multicentre cohort study (Thirst study)
Authors' conclusion
Excessive pre-operative liquid fasting remains highly prevalent across Europe, with poor implementation of established guidelines.
Study context
- Population
- Adults undergoing elective surgery or interventional procedures under GA, RA or sedation in 46 centres in 12 European countries, November–December 2024
- Participants
- 5,100 adults · 46 centres · 12 countries
- Outcome
- Self-reported duration of pre-operative liquid fasting; incidence of prolonged fasting (liquid fasting >4 h)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Pre-operative liquid fasting time
Patients fasting beyond 4 h
95%
Clear liquids within 2 to 4 h
4%
Clear liquids within 2 h
0.8%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Fasting duration by country and procedure type (subgroup)
- Consistently prolonged across most countries and procedures, except notably shorter times in Albania
Original publication
Pre-operative liquid fasting practices in twelve European countries: A prospective multicentre cohort study (Thirst study). Eur J Anaesthesiol. Published 20 January 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →