Treating Post-Operative Thirst With Flavoured Ice Lollies or Water - a Comparative Study to Improve Post-operative Discomfort (THIRST)

Patients are asked not to eat and drink before their operation, and the investigators know that this can make people feel thirstier when they wake up from their anaesthetic. The investigators want to know if giving patients ice lollies improves their thirst more than if they were given water. Gloucestershire Royal Hospital is funding and running a research study to find ways to try and improve this.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Postoperative Thirst
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Flavoured ice lollies (popsicles); Other: Water

Detailed Description

The 2019 peri-operative quality improvement project (PQIP) run by the Royal College of Anaesthetists showed 79% of patients experience moderate to severe thirst post-operatively. As a significant source of post-operative discomfort, resolving patient thirst may significantly improve their experience.

Whilst provision of oral fluids may be able to alleviate some thirst, many patients are unable to drink sufficient quantities to quench their thirst following an anaesthetic. Furthermore, studies have shown that frozen water is able to quench thirst to a greater degree than liquids.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether ice lollies quench post-operative thirst to a greater degree than water. Patients are already routinely offered water post-operatively, the offering of flavoured ice lollies is a novel intervention for our hospital. The investigators intend to investigate two primary outcomes. First, can ice lollies quench post-operative thirst to a greater degree than water and therefore improve patient discomfort. Second, if ice lollies are found to be superior to water in quenching thirst and improving post-operative discomfort, do these patients take less time to recover from their operation?

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 173
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Gloucestershire
    • Gloucester, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, GL1 3NN
      • Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients over 18 years of age
2. Patients attending for elective surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Allergy to products within the ice lolly
2. Designated nil-by-mouth by anaesthetic or surgical teams
3. Patient less than 18 years old
4. Patient unable to give consent
5. Refusal of patient to be involved with study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Patients allocated ice lollies to treat post-operative thirst; Ice lollies consisted of a flavoured ice popsicle (blackcurrant) provided through hospital catering. Participants were allocated a single ice popsicle with thirst scores recored pre and post intervention.	Other: Flavoured ice lollies (popsicles); Blackcurrant flavoured ice popsicles, 105ml volume.
Other: Patients allocated water as control comparison; Water is a routine treatment for post-operative thirst and therefore used a control to compare our intervention against.	Other: Water; Water from tap, one cup given by recovery nurses.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The primary outcome measure is the level of post-operative thirst following intervention with either water or ice lolly.	Data on pre and post-intervention thirst will be recorded using questionnaires and a numerical rating score from 0 to 10, with 0 being no thirst at all and 10 being very thirsty. These scores will also be sub-divided into no thirst (0), mild thirst (1-3), moderate thirst (4-7) and severe thirst (8-10). This data will undergo statistical analysis to challenge the null hypothesis for the primary outcome measure.	Intervention is to be given when the patient is adequately recovered from anaesthesia. An initial thirst score is recorded, then intervention given. Thirst scores are recorded again 15 minutes later to provide data for the primary outcome measure.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: David Sleep, BSc MSc MBBS D.Phil, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 19, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 17, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): May 17, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 21, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 21, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): August 28, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 12, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 10, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Hydration; Anaesthesia; Postoperative; Thirst; Ice Lollies
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Inorganic Chemicals; Anions; Ions; Electrolytes; Hydroxides; Alkalies; Oxides; Oxygen Compounds; Water
• Other Study ID Numbers: 21/093/GHT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: This is a small centre study with a minor intervention. Participant information is limited to demographic and operative data only.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No