Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• YI LEE
• LAI, Hsien-Yong
• LIN, Pei-Chin
• HUANG, Shen-Jer
• LIN, Youh-Sheng

Titel

Dexamethasone prevents postoperative nausea and vomiting more effectively in women with motion sickness

Ist Teil von

• Canadian journal of anesthesia, 2003-03, Vol.50 (3), p.232-237

Ort / Verlag

Toronto, ON: Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

Erscheinungsjahr

2003

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• To evaluate the antiemetic effect of iv dexamethasone for preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in women with and without a history of motion sickness. This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was carried out in 168 female patients with (n = 84) and without (n = 84) a history of motion sickness undergoing gynecological laparoscopy. Patients received 8 mg dexamethasone or saline immediately before induction of anesthesia. Postoperatively patients were assessed for 24 hr for nausea, vomiting, and complete response (no vomiting, no need for rescue antiemetics). The complete response for patients with a history of motion sickness was 80.5% and 37.5% for recipients of dexamethasone and saline, respectively [P < 0.001; number needed-to-treat (NNT) = 2.3]; with corresponding incidences of 83.3% and 53.7% when there was no such history (P = 0.009; NNT = 3.4). Calculation of the efficacy of dexamethasone for the different subgroups shows that dexamethasone was 45.3% more effective in patients with motion sickness than in those without it. Prophylactic administration of dexamethasone is effective in reducing PONV in patients with and without a history of motion sickness. The results of this study were more favourable in patients with a history of motion sickness, demonstrating a higher effectiveness of dexamethasone for preventing PONV in this subgroup of patients.