Treating Post-Operative Thirst With Flavoured Ice Lollies or Water - a Comparative Study to Improve Post-operative Discomfort

NCT ID: NCT06014216

Last Updated: 2023-08-28

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 173 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-04-19
• Study Completion Date: 2021-05-17

Brief Summary

Patients are asked not to eat and drink before their operation, and we know that this can make people feel thirstier when they wake up from their anaesthetic. We want to know if giving patients ice lollies improves their thirst more than if they were given water. Gloucestershire Royal Hospital is funding and running a research study to find ways to try and improve this.

Detailed Description

The 2019 peri-operative quality improvement project (PQIP) run by the Royal College of Anaesthetists showed 79% of patients experience moderate to severe thirst post-operatively. As a significant source of post-operative discomfort, resolving patient thirst may significantly improve their experience.

Whilst provision of oral fluids may be able to alleviate some thirst, many patients are unable to drink sufficient quantities to quench their thirst following an anaesthetic. Furthermore, studies have shown that frozen water is able to quench thirst to a greater degree than liquids.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether ice lollies quench post-operative thirst to a greater degree than water. Patients are already routinely offered water post-operatively, the offering of flavoured ice lollies is a novel intervention for our hospital. We intend to investigate two primary outcomes. First, can ice lollies quench post-operative thirst to a greater degree than water and therefore improve patient discomfort. Second, if ice lollies are found to be superior to water in quenching thirst and improving post-operative discomfort, do these patients take less time to recover from their operation?

Conditions

Postoperative Thirst

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Patients allocated ice lollies to treat post-operative thirst

Ice lollies consisted of a flavoured ice popsicle (blackcurrant) provided through hospital catering. Participants were allocated a single ice popsicle with thirst scores recored pre and post intervention.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Flavoured ice lollies (popsicles)

Intervention Type: OTHER

Blackcurrant flavoured ice popsicles, 105ml volume.

Patients allocated water as control comparison

Water is a routine treatment for post-operative thirst and therefore used a control to compare our intervention against.

Group Type: OTHER

Water

Intervention Type: OTHER

Water from tap, one cup given by recovery nurses.

Interventions

Flavoured ice lollies (popsicles)

Blackcurrant flavoured ice popsicles, 105ml volume.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Water

Water from tap, one cup given by recovery nurses.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Patients over 18 years of age

2. Patients attending for elective surgery

Exclusion Criteria

1. Allergy to products within the ice lolly

2. Designated nil-by-mouth by anaesthetic or surgical teams

3. Patient less than 18 years old

4. Patient unable to give consent

5. Refusal of patient to be involved with study

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

David Sleep, BSc MSc MBBS D.Phil

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Locations

Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

Gloucester, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom

Countries

United Kingdom

Other Identifiers

21/093/GHT

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id