ON THE COVER:
The lack of reliable data on gastric emptying of solid food during labor has led to discrepancies between current guidelines regarding fasting for solid food in the parturient. In this issue of Anesthesiology, Bouvet et al. test the hypothesis that the gastric emptying fraction of a light meal would be reduced in the parturients receiving epidural analgesia and with no labor analgesia compared to nonpregnant and pregnant women. In an accompanying editorial, Palmer and Jiang describe the evolution of oral intake guidelines in parturients and place the new findings in perspective. Cover Photo: iStock, Getty Images. Cover Illustration: A. Johnson, Vivo Visuals Studio.
Bouvet et al.: Pregnancy and Labor Epidural Effects on Gastric Emptying: A Prospective Comparative Study, p. 542
Palmer and Jiang: Limiting Oral Intake during Labor: Do We Have It Right? p. 528
