Incidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux during anaesthesia, following two different fasting times in dogs.

Prolonged pre-operative fasting is associated with an increased incidence of gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) in dogs ( Galatos & Raptopoulos 1995). A preliminary study ( Savas & Raptopoulos 1997) showed that fasting for 3 hours does not significantly increase gastric volume, whereas it significantly decreases hydrogen ion concentration, compared to fasting for 10 hours. This study evaluates the incidence of GOR after the consumption of the same type and amount of food, 3 or 10 hours pre-operatively in dogs.