[Restrict or enforce the preoperative clear liquid intake?: preface and comments].

Restriction of preoperative clear liquid intake causes thirst in many patients but is followed traditionally for many years in the preoperative order by an anesthesiologist in charge. Although many anesthesiologists doubted long the efficacy of this tradition, no one has stopped. In 1999, the ASA guideline on restriction of preoperative clear liquid intake was published. However, this guideline was not yet followed in many institutes and hospitals in Japan. In 2005, the report from north European countries was published and introduced the new idea "Enhanced Recovery after Surgery, ERAS" which consists of many factors. Among these factors, the enforcement of preoperative clear liquid intake was reviewed in this volume.