If you were in a car crash and had been eating all day, how is that different from a routine surgery where you weren’t allowed to eat for a certain amount of time before surgery?
Edit: based on some answers, perhaps I should clarify obviously I understand they have to perform surgery in an emergency. My question is more what do they do in an emergency when you haven’t fasted.
Thanks to those with real answers, I never knew about the special tube that could be used. That’s pretty cool.
I’m having surgery tomorrow and can’t eat so was just wondering how they handle food in the stomach during an emergency surgery situation.
In: 2585
Eating before going under for surgery increases the risk of throwing up and inhaling your vomit, causing choking and airway damage. The risk is small, but obviously good to avoid. So they have a policy of no eating before a scheduled surgery.
If it’s a case of “surgery needs to happen ASAP or the patient will die”, they’re going to weigh that higher than the smaller risk of vomit/choking
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