fasting duration in patients undergoing elective surgery

background and purpose: preoperative fast is the essential part of preoperative care for those patients who are candidates for elective surgery. fast prolongation results in side effects such as: sweating, irritability, decrease in blood sugar and restlessness. despite the noticeable changes in fasting guidelines and their application in many countries, it seems that in iran, these rules are not applicable very much. this research aim to detect the fasting time in patients as the candidates for elective surgery. methods: this descriptive study was conducted on 124 patients as the candidates for elective surgery in teaching hospitals in mashhad. data have been gathered by a researchers-made questionnaire after confirming its validity and reliability by being presented in the operation rooms. the data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. results: the research findings indicate that 53.6 percent of the patients were female. the patients ranged 2-69 years old. minimum fasting time was 3 hours and the maximum 96 h with the average of 12h. the maximum waiting time after being transferred to the operating rooms till the operation starting time was 4 h. conclusion: the results denote the patients of different age groups endure long fasting period considerably affecting the illness process and surgery outcome. some of the reasons could be attributed to the staff’s lack of knowledge about the guidelines, not having the scheduled transfer for the operation rooms and the patients being afraid of anesthesia side effects like vomiting and nausea.