{"id":109,"date":"2025-05-18T23:25:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T23:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cairnsanaesthesia.org\/?page_id=109"},"modified":"2025-07-23T03:46:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T03:46:40","slug":"australasian-mars-multicentre-aspiration-risk-study","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/cairnsanaesthesia.org\/?page_id=109","title":{"rendered":"MARS Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Australasian MARS – Multicentre Aspiration Risk Study<\/h2>\n\n\n
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DOWNLOAD STUDY PROTOCOL – CLICK HERE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is MARS?<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

MARS is an Australasian multicentre observational cohort study looking at rates of pulmonary aspiration under anaesthesia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study aims to assess whether permitting clear fluid drinks until the start of anaesthesia (\u201cSip Til Send\u201d) is non-inferior compared to advising patients to stop drinking 1 or 2 hours before anaesthesia (restrictive fluid fasting).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we need MARS?<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Despite national guidelines advising patients to consume clear fluids until 1 to 2 hours before an anaesthetic, in practice patients often go without fluids for much longer \u2013 commonly averaging 7 to 13 hours [Markman 2024]. This can cause thirst, dehydration, heightened anxiety, nausea, and issues with blood sugar management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sip Til Send fasting has become an effective and popular strategy to shorten fluid fasting duration before anaesthesia, improving the patient experience and avoiding the problems related to dehydration. Between 2023 and 2025, approximately 50 Australasian hospitals changed their preoperative fasting policies to routinely offer their patients Sip Til Send [Markman 2024].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pulmonary aspiration under anaesthesia is rare and in most cases the consequences are mild, but it remains an important cause of severe complications during anaesthesia. Studies to date have suggested that Sip Til Send is equally as safe as restrictive fasting with regard to aspiration [Andersson, Marsman, EUROFAST], but we need to study larger populations to be sure of these results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MARS project is designed to provide the best evidence yet on the safety of Sip Til Send.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Study design<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The MARS project will collect aspiration data from 250,000 adults and children undergoing anaesthesia for elective or emergency procedures in participating hospitals across Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registered hospitals<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

As of May 2025, there are 40 hospitals registered for the MARS project, spanning all parts of Australia and New Zealand<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Register your hospital for MARS<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Each participating hospital has ONE Principal Investigator (PI), who is typically an anaesthetist. The PI will require the support of the hospital\u2019s research governance officer to complete the site specific assessment. Data collection has been designed to be low burden and will only require one individual (the PI, a trainee, or a research co-ordinator).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do MARS?<\/p>\n\n\n\n