Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to determine if preoperative carbohydrate rich drinks (CHO) are associated with improved postoperative outcomes and subjective wellbeing. A more important outcome for hospital administrators is whether preoperative loading reduces hospital length of stay, but this remains uncertain. The primary aims of this study were to establish the efficacy of a preoperative carbohydrate drink in shortening time to discharge and to test the feasibility of conducting a larger trial among a more diverse cohort. A prospective, single-site, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial design was used to test the hypothesis that a preoperative carbohydrate drink will result in significantly shorter time to readiness for discharge compared to usual care. Patients undergoing elective bowel surgery were recruited, consented, and enrolled at preadmission clinic and randomized into either the usual care group (control) or the preoperative CHO group (intervention). The primary endpoint was time to readiness for discharge. To show such a difference of reduction of 2.5 mean bed days with 90% power (p

Primary Author:

Sonya R. Osborne, RN PhD
Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology
s.osborne@qut.edu.au