Why do they tell you that you can't eat or drink 8 hours before surgery?!
Question: Why do they tell you that you can't eat or drink 8 hours before surgery.?
I had my wisdom teeth removed to day (OUCH!) and they called me the day before to tell me that I can't eat or drink anything 8 hours before the surgery then I had to sign a paper saying that i didn't eat or drink anything. Why is this.?Health Question & Answer
Answers:
Because whenever you recieve any kind of anesthesia, you have the risk of throwing up and choking (aspirating). It can cause you to die from aspirating the fluid into your lungs and basically drowning you.Health Question & Answer
Usually they will tell you not to eat after midnight for morning surgery and only have a very limited amount of water. It is a real drag, but there is a good reason. The doctor, or in your case dentist, has no way of knowing how you will react to the anesthesia. A lot of people become very nauseated from anesthesia and if there is food or liquid in their stomach there is more of a chance of the patient vomiting and perhaps choking during the surgery. And that is dangerous for the patient and surgeon, and causes complications.Health Question & Answer
Worked in a hospital/experienceHealth Question & Answer
When you are receiving general anesthesia, the medications that are used may induce vomiting. They also are depolarizing muscular agents, this means in that all of your voluntary muscles, along with, some involuntary muscles are temporarily paralyzed. Thus, making you apneic or not breathing. The anesthesiologist introduces an endotracheal tube into your trachea and then breathes for you. The problem is that the medications that are given to you during surgery relaxes a sphincter muscle that lies at the superior aspect of the stomach called the cardiac sphincter, this sphincter muscle typically keeps gastric juices and stomach content in the stomach and out of the esophagus. When you are in sedated, this muscle relaxes and if your stomach is not empty, a patient can forcefully vomit and aspirate their stomach contents into their lungs. This will cause a severe lung infection that could lead to lethal consequences for the patient. Therefore, it is always a good idea to follow the advice they give you prior to surgery.Health Question & Answer
The anesthetics during surgery could possibly give you nausea or be potent enough to make you relax your bowels. also, since it was your wisdom teeth, there could have been a higher chance that the doctor might hit your gag reflex.
On another hand, if you died during surgery, you'd have crapped all over the place, heh... What doctor wants a dead patient AND crap all over the place.?Health Question & Answer
On another hand, if you died during surgery, you'd have crapped all over the place, heh... What doctor wants a dead patient AND crap all over the place.?Health Question & Answer
Because it helps prevent you throwing up. The drugs they use to knock you out can cause you to throw up and if you eat you will be throwing up a lot. Not eating helps prevent throwing up. So dont eat.Health Question & Answer
so that if you throw up you will dry heave instead of throwing up food or liquid that may get into your lungs and cause ALOT of damageHealth Question & Answer