Anaesthesia and intensive care unit

Observing fasting rules before anaesthesia is a simple and proven safety measure to reduce the risk of anaesthesia. The aim is to prevent vomiting during anaesthesia.

Normally, i.e. when we are awake, swallowing, gagging and coughing reflexes protect us from stomach acid and food residues entering our airways during vomiting (= aspiration), which could lead to lung damage.

These important protective reflexes to prevent aspiration are extinguished when anaesthesia is induced. Vomit could therefore flow unhindered into the temporarily unprotected airways at this moment and cause pneumonia. By taking a six-hour break from eating and a two-hour break from drinking before the anaesthetic, you can help to effectively minimise this risk.

Fortunately, waking up unnoticed from a general anaesthetic during an ongoing operation has become an extremely rare event nowadays.

However, as we are aware of the possible consequences of such an awakening, the avoidance of such a serious event is a basic principle for every general anaesthetic. Knowledge of previous case reports about possible causes that have already led to such an awakening helps us to specifically avoid such an event. The uninterrupted presence of specialised anaesthesia personnel and the technical possibilities of anaesthesia monitoring also help to protect you from such an event.

Experience shows that you can leave the hospital two to four hours after an outpatient surgical procedure.

The individual discharge time is influenced by various factors. In addition to the type of operation performed, it is ultimately your well-being that determines when you can return home. After the operation, you should therefore feel safe when getting up, not feel any nausea and the wound pain must be sufficiently treated for you.

Remember that you are not allowed to drive independently until the next morning. Ideally, you should be picked up and accompanied on the way home.