The effect of preoperative fasting to postoperative agitation, nausea, and vomiting in children with tonsillectomy

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of preoperative fasting period on postoperative agitation, nause and vomiting in children with tonsillectomy. Material and Methods: Children (n:123) who have had tonsillectomy between June and December 2017 and their families have taken place in the study. The data were collected by the researchers with a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 18 package program and with descriptive, Mann Whitney U test, Spearman Correlation test. Results: The mean duration of preoperative fasting was 11.03±1.17 hours, the duration of thirst was 10.17±1.00 hours. The mean behavior scores of the children were 1.28±0.27 points, the mean vomiting score of the children was 0.01±0.07 points, 56.9% of the children in the postoperative unit were not experiencing nausea. Between duration of preoperative fasting with agitation and vomiting status in postoperative unit was found to statistically no relationship. According to preoperative fasting time of children, a statistically significant difference was found when children were diagnosed as having or not having symptoms of nausea. Conclusıon: It was found that the children had longer duration of preoperative fasting than the guidelines suggested in the guidelines. It was observed that pre-operative fasting time did not affect postoperative agitation and vomiting, but it affected nausea. Practice Implications: Surgical nurses should emphasize the importance of fasting period to families before surgery and inform families on this issue.