PATIENT INFORMATION
Can I drink water before surgery?
Many modern fasting guidelines allow clear liquids, including water, until about 2 hours before anaesthesia in selected healthy patients having elective procedures. That statement is not permission for an individual patient to drink up to 2 hours before surgery; the fasting instruction supplied for that procedure takes priority. This differs from the older practice of routinely stopping all drinks from midnight.
However, your own instruction matters. Some patients have a higher aspiration risk and some procedures or hospitals use different protocols. If you have been told to stop all liquids at a particular time, do not ignore that instruction because of something you read online.