Every week I get patients who come in for their elective plastic surgery procedures in my NJ plastic surgery practice and complain about how hungry and thirsty they are.
The reason for not eating or drinking on the morning of surgery (or being kept NPO) is that any food or liquid in the stomach can be vomited during the start of anesthesia and if aspirated into the lungs can cause severe breathing problems.
The true amount of time needed to wait after eating or drinking is believed to be between 6-8 hours by most anesthesiologists. The patients in my practice are getting elective surgery and it makes sense to take every safety precaution possible.
I have had patients come in who directly disregard the instructions not to eat. They believe that this is an optional instruction and that coffee/milk and a small breakfast won’t matter. The truth is, it does make a difference, and the result of ignoring this instruction is usually postponement of surgery.
The goal of any surgery should be to optimize safety for plastic surgery patients and observing the restriction of not eating before elective surgery should be understood and respected.






