Nil by mouth

[MegGriffin]

Hello I have posted also in childrens health but would really appreciate an answer if anyone knows as I am shattered so will be logging off soon. DD broke her arm today. Tomorrow morning first thing she is having an operation to have it manipulated. After 2am she is nil by mouth. If she wakes after this time in pain can I still give her calpol?

I'm not sure - can you ring the ward she's going to in the morning and ask them?

Ring the ward and if no response ask NHS Direct unless someone on here comes up with a better answer.

Unfortunately the ward is closed tonight due to no staff which is why we have been put on the list first thing tomorrow morning.

btw hope you have a good sleep tonight and all goes well tomorrow.

Thanks all, I will phone NHS dirsct and ask them.. I'm really not thinking straight at the moment, it's been a horrible day

NHS Direct then - ring 0845 4647.

Thanks onepiece

You poor thing. It sounds really stressful and also awful for your dd.

Yes she can have calpol, am an anaesthetist, she can also drink water till 2 hours before the op.

I know when I was nil by mouth I was still allowed to take my medicines with water

Just phoned NHS direct and they have a message saying exceptionally busy, only urgent cases grrr.

Oh thank goodness some people who know the right answers.

It will just be two spoons of calpol so not loads of liquid. I really hope it doesn't happen at all. I just thought I will be thinking a bit more straight now rather than 3am.

I agree with rempy, they do give children medication prior to an operation, it's not 'food' and doesn't sit digesting in the stomach, the no food rule is because the anaesthetic makes people vomit.

I am very shocked that they allowed her to go home with a broken arm though!

I would say yes. I am NOT a doctor. But the logic of nil by mouth is that there should not be any food in your stomach when you have general anaesthetic (sp?) in case it comes back up when you are asleep and chokes you. Calpol will be absorbed very quickly and will not be sitting in the bottom of her stomach in the morning.

But - I am not a doctor and can't advise you.

Thankyou rempy and everyone else. It's apparently rare for the ward to be closed but no staff available so we were unlucky.

Meg, she can have it. Its fine.

It is almost worth actually giving her water to two hours before she goes into hospital, it makes them less grumpy.

Sorry, cross posted there, thought you'd missed my post!!

Am very keen on keeping fasting to a minimum for LOs.

Thank you very much rempy, I couldnt get better reassurance than that. I'm really gratefeful to all of you.

Hmm. I trained as a paeds nurse a few years ago, they have to find the staff if there is a need to do so. It's not recommended to send anyone home like this, let alone a child. Did they warn you of what to look out for? So many things could go wrong. This is worrying!

They said the had bank staff coming in but they had also phoned in sick. We were given the option of another hospital but it was quite a long way away and they said it may not be done till the next morning anyway. She is in a plaster cast and they said as she has no pins and needles or numbness she would be ok till the morning. Poor DD (and me) have had a long day.

Do they only have one childrens ward??

The childrens ward was quite small. It only had about six beds that I could see. There is a hospital in my town but they don't do broken arms so thats why we had to go to this one. The doctor who explained all this was very nice and very sorry about it. I could see he was not happy but there was nothing else they could do.