Cataract SurgeryStarvAnxNCT04769856
Impact of Non-fasting on Anxiety in Cataract Surgery
A study testing State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale and Satisfaction scale in people with Cataract Surgery, run by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris at 1 site in France.
Trial summary
The aim of this prospective study was to investigate whether non-fasting recommendation could reduce preoperative anxiety level, incidence of anesthetist interventions, and number of surgical complications in elective cataract surgery patients. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Cataract Surgery
- What is being tested?
- State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale and Satisfaction scale
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 126 participants
- Where
- 1 siteFrance
- Study dates
- 2 May 2021to 2 Nov 2021
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Information and collection of patient consent
- Age greater than or equal to 18 years
- Affiliation to a social insurance
- Undergoing cataract surgery under topical anesthesia
- Intervention on the 1st eye
Who cannot join
- Refusal to participate
- Language barrier incompatible with the performance of a reliable assessment
- Behavior disorders
- Anesthesia other than topical
- Voluntary control disorder
- Intervention on the 2nd eye
- Taking psychotropic drugs.
- Legal protection regime
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
France1 site
Service Anesthésie Réanimation chirurgicale, Hôpital Cochin
Paris, IDF, 75014
About this study
Official title: Impact of Non-fasting Strategy on Pre-operative Patients' Anxiety in Cataract Surgery Performed Under Topical Anesthesia
The aim of this prospective study was to investigate whether non-fasting recommendation could reduce preoperative anxiety level, incidence of anesthetist interventions, and number of surgical complications in elective cataract surgery patients.
Read the detailed description
Fear of aspiration makes anesthetists reluctant to challenge standard pre-operative fasting guidelines recommending stopping eating solids and drinking clear fluid 6 hours and 2 hours, respectively before anesthesia. However, hunger and thirst exacerbates patients' anxiety, adversely impacts the patient's comfort and satisfaction, and enhances pain response leading to additional need for analgesia.
Patients undergoing non-invasive procedures requiring no or light sedation may benefit from non-fasting recommendations. The need for preoperative fasting in patients undergoing cataract surgery under topical anesthesia remains controversial. Patients are not fasted before standard cataract surgery under local anesthesia in many cataract centers, in accordance with the UK national guideline published in 2012. However, this practice is not supported by a high level of evidence from prospective clinical trials. So far, the lack of international professional consensus on the matter, local practices are based on institutional recommendations obviating the need for starvation in routine cataract surgery under topical anesthesia.
- Conditions
- Cataract Surgery
- Being tested
- State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale, Satisfaction scale
- Keywords
- Cataract surgery, Anxiety, Fasting
- Medical subject headings
- Anxiety Disorders, Fasting
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scaleOther
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale
Satisfaction scaleOther
Satisfaction scale
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Non-fasting group | Experimental | Not described Receives: Other: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale; Other: Satisfaction scale |
| Fasting group | Experimental | Not described Receives: Other: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale; Other: Satisfaction scale |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale score
preoperative anxiety level
Measured: Baseline (Before surgery)
Secondary outcomes (5)
Incidence of vitreous outbreaks perceived by the operator
Incidence of vitreous outbreaks perceived by the operator
Measured: During surgery
Incidence of capsular ruptures
Incidence of capsular ruptures
Measured: During surgery
Satisfaction scale score
Satisfaction scale score (scale from 0 to 10)
Measured: Immediately after surgery
Incidence of oxygen desaturations
Incidence of oxygen desaturations (SpO2 <93%)
Measured: During surgery
Proportion of patients who took their usual antihypertensive therapy
Proportion of patients who took their usual antihypertensive therapy
Measured: Baseline (Before surgery)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted25 Feb 2021
- Study start2 May 2021
- Primary completion2 Nov 2021
- Study completion2 Nov 2021
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (6)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Cataract SurgeryStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de ParisThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 126 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- URC-CIC Paris Descartes Necker Cochin
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04769856
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- APHP201410
- Acronym
- StarvAnx
- Status last verified
- Sep 2025
- First submitted
- 29 Jan 2021
- Last updated
- 12 Sep 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Publications
Chon T, Ma A, Mun-Price C. Perioperative Fasting and the Patient Experience. Cureus. 2017 May 24;9(5):e1272. doi: 10.7759/cureus.1272.
PubMed 28652955Ogino Y, Kakeda T, Nakamura K, Saito S. Dehydration enhances pain-evoked activation in the human brain compared with rehydration. Anesth Analg. 2014 Jun;118(6):1317-25. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0b013e3182a9b028.
PubMed 24384865Maltby JR, Hamilton RC. Preoperative fasting guidelines for cataract surgery under regional anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth. 1993 Jul;71(1):167. doi: 10.1093/bja/71.1.167-a. No abstract available.
PubMed 8343333Steeds C, Mather SJ. Fasting regimens for regional ophthalmic anaesthesia. A survey of members of the British Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Society. Anaesthesia. 2001 Jul;56(7):638-42. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2044.2001.02116.x.
PubMed 11437763Seet E, Kumar CM, Eke T, Joshi GP. Starving Patients Before Cataract Surgery Under Regional Anesthesia: Needed or Not? Anesth Analg. 2018 Dec;127(6):1448-1451. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000003504. No abstract available.
PubMed 29863606Guerrier G, Bernabei F, Giannaccare G, Vagge A, Bonnet C, Baillard C, Monnet D, Rothschild PR. The StarvAnx Study-Comparison Between the Effects of Non-fasting Vs. Fasting Strategy on Surgical Outcomes, Anxiety and Pain in Patients Undergoing Cataract Surgery Under Topical Anesthesia: A Randomized, Crossover, Controlled Trial. Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Jul 13;9:916225. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.916225. eCollection 2022.
PubMed 35911419
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 12 Sep 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Impact of Non-fasting Strategy on Pre-operative Patients' Anxiety in Cataract Surgery Performed Under Topical Anesthesia
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04769856
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- StarvAnx / APHP201410
- Conditions
- Cataract Surgery
- Keywords
- Cataract surgery, Anxiety, Fasting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 126 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de ParisUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- URC-CIC Paris Descartes Necker Cochin
- Study start
- 2 May 2021 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 2 Nov 2021 (actual)
- Study completion
- 2 Nov 2021 (actual)
- First posted
- 25 Feb 2021 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The aim of this prospective study was to investigate whether non-fasting recommendation could reduce preoperative anxiety level, incidence of anesthetist interventions, and number of surgical complications in elective cataract surgery patients.
Detailed description
Fear of aspiration makes anesthetists reluctant to challenge standard pre-operative fasting guidelines recommending stopping eating solids and drinking clear fluid 6 hours and 2 hours, respectively before anesthesia. However, hunger and thirst exacerbates patients' anxiety, adversely impacts the patient's comfort and satisfaction, and enhances pain response leading to additional need for analgesia.
Patients undergoing non-invasive procedures requiring no or light sedation may benefit from non-fasting recommendations. The need for preoperative fasting in patients undergoing cataract surgery under topical anesthesia remains controversial. Patients are not fasted before standard cataract surgery under local anesthesia in many cataract centers, in accordance with the UK national guideline published in 2012. However, this practice is not supported by a high level of evidence from prospective clinical trials. So far, the lack of international professional consensus on the matter, local practices are based on institutional recommendations obviating the need for starvation in routine cataract surgery under topical anesthesia.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Other
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Non-fasting group | Experimental | Other: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale, Other: Satisfaction scale |
| Fasting group | Experimental | Other: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale, Other: Satisfaction scale |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Information and collection of patient consent
- Age greater than or equal to 18 years
- Affiliation to a social insurance
- Undergoing cataract surgery under topical anesthesia
- Intervention on the 1st eye
Key exclusion criteria (8 listed)
- Refusal to participate
- Language barrier incompatible with the performance of a reliable assessment
- Behavior disorders
- Anesthesia other than topical
- Voluntary control disorder
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scaleState-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale | Other | Fasting group, Non-fasting group |
| Satisfaction scaleSatisfaction scale | Other | Fasting group, Non-fasting group |
Primary outcome
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale score
Time frame: Baseline (Before surgery)
preoperative anxiety level
5 secondary outcomes
Incidence of vitreous outbreaks perceived by the operator
Time frame: During surgery
Incidence of capsular ruptures
Time frame: During surgery
Satisfaction scale score
Time frame: Immediately after surgery
Incidence of oxygen desaturations
Time frame: During surgery
Proportion of patients who took their usual antihypertensive therapy
Time frame: Baseline (Before surgery)
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 12 Sep 2025.
- Background: PubMed 28652955Chon T, Ma A, Mun-Price C. Perioperative Fasting and the Patient Experience. Cureus. 2017 May 24;9(5):e1272. doi: 10.7759/cureus.1272.
- Background: PubMed 24384865Ogino Y, Kakeda T, Nakamura K, Saito S. Dehydration enhances pain-evoked activation in the human brain compared with rehydration. Anesth Analg. 2014 Jun;118(6):1317-25. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0b013e3182a9b028.
- Background: PubMed 8343333Maltby JR, Hamilton RC. Preoperative fasting guidelines for cataract surgery under regional anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth. 1993 Jul;71(1):167. doi: 10.1093/bja/71.1.167-a. No abstract available.
- Background: PubMed 11437763Steeds C, Mather SJ. Fasting regimens for regional ophthalmic anaesthesia. A survey of members of the British Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Society. Anaesthesia. 2001 Jul;56(7):638-42. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2044.2001.02116.x.
- Background: PubMed 29863606Seet E, Kumar CM, Eke T, Joshi GP. Starving Patients Before Cataract Surgery Under Regional Anesthesia: Needed or Not? Anesth Analg. 2018 Dec;127(6):1448-1451. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000003504. No abstract available.
- Results publication: PubMed 35911419Guerrier G, Bernabei F, Giannaccare G, Vagge A, Bonnet C, Baillard C, Monnet D, Rothschild PR. The StarvAnx Study-Comparison Between the Effects of Non-fasting Vs. Fasting Strategy on Surgical Outcomes, Anxiety and Pain in Patients Undergoing Cataract Surgery Under Topical Anesthesia: A Randomized, Crossover, Controlled Trial. Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Jul 13;9:916225. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.916225. eCollection 2022.
Related trials for Cataract Surgery
RecruitingPhase 4
Evaluating a Dropless Postoperative Regimen After Cataract Surgery in a Vulnerable, County-hospital Population
Cataract, Surgery
Recruiting
Randomized Controlled Trial of the STEIN Protocol: A Neuroplastic Pain Education and Guided Breathing Intervention During Awake Cataract Surgery
Cataract, Cataract (Post-operative Cataract Surgery Follow-up)
RecruitingPhase 4
Evaluation of Lacrifill
Dry Eye, Ocular Surface Disease
RecruitingObservational study
Pilot Study: Feasibility and Usability of a Head-Mounted Spatial Computing Device for Intraoperative Visualization During Intraocular Surgery
Cataract Surgery
RecruitingObservational study
Evaluation of Vitreous Modifications After Cataract Surgery
Vitreous Detachment, Cataract (Post-operative Cataract Surgery Follow-up)
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
The record lists no contact. Use the official record to reach the sponsor.
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale and Satisfaction scale in people with Cataract Surgery, run by Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris at 1 site in France.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 8 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 12 Sep 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in France. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale score (time frame: Baseline (Before surgery)). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04769856, which also lists 6 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 12 Sep 2025; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 7 Nov 2026.