2026 SOAP Annual Meeting

Slide 1

Oral intake is restricted during labor

Caloric content influences gastric emptying speed

Unknown:

How does caloric content of liquid impact gastric emptying rate during labor epidural analgesia?

Hypothesis: That water will empty faster than a sports drink (SpDr)

Slide 2

Inclusion Criteria

-Gestational age 36w or greater

-ASA 2 or 3

-Induction of labor or early labor (cervical dilation < 6cm)

-Singleton gestation

Exclusion Criteria

-Recent food ingestion < 3hrs

-Preeclampsia

-Active nausea or reflux symptoms

-Diabetes mellitus

-Received narcotics within 12hrs

-Receiving Magnesium sulfate

-Multiple gestations

Slide 3

Half-Times

Water: 22.9±10.5min

SpDr: 17.2±13.1min

P= 0.20

Slide 4

Conclusion and Next Steps

•We found no statistically significant differences in gastric emptying half-times between water and sports drink groups

•Risks of aspiration due to volumes in stomach are transient after 100 ml ingestion

•Future avenues for research

•Larger volumes

•Repeated volumes

•More calorically dense liquid

Examining the gastric emptying half-time of water versus carbohydrate beverage in early labor in patients with epidurals