Because the most impcetant goal of anesthetic management is patient safety, it is accepted practice that pre-operative patients take nothing by mouth for at least 6 to 8 hours before surgery. However, recent studies have questioned this conventional pre-operative fasting, showing that a fixed volume of water at various time pre-operatively may either improve the characteristics of gastric contents, or else have no effect. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of aUowing patients unlimited access to oral water drinks regardless of time. Fifty-eight fit adult patients scheduled for elective surgery normally requiring endotracheal intubation were recruited. They were randomly allocated to two groups; "Fasters" and "Drinkers", and the effects on plasma osmolality, gastric contents and patient comfort were compared, respectively. This protocol was associated with a reduction in pre-operative anxiety, although the mechanism of this is not clear. No effects were found on plasma osmolality or on the volume or acidity of the gastric contents. No regurgitation occurred during induction and/or emergence in "Drinkers".