A cross sectional, observational study to evaluate the surgeons' knowledge and perspective on preoperative fasting guidelines in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Southern India.

Background And Aims: The preoperative fasting orders given by the Anesthesiologists as per ASA and Enhanced Recovery After Surgery protocol, are often modified by the surgeons, for practical convenience, which can end up with patients being starved for prolonged periods of time. Hence, this study was conducted among various specialty surgical colleagues, to evaluate the knowledge and their perspective regarding patients' preoperative fasting guidelines.

Material And Methods: A validated questionnaire was distributed to 68 surgeons belonging to various surgical specialties, which included consultants and postgraduate residents.