Sindhuri Kolluru1, Bhawana Mulpuri2, S. Gopala Krishna Murthy3
BACKGROUND
Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV) has been variously described as the “big little problem” for anaesthesiology. Incidence of PONV after surgery is in the range of 20-30%, but it may be up to 50-70% after laparoscopic surgeries. The commonest cause of morbidity after anaesthesia and surgery are pain and postoperative nausea and vomiting. Unrelieved pain is a common cause of PONV and opioids used for pain relief also causes PONV.
The aim of the study is to compare between ondansetron and dexamethasone to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and to note any adverse reactions of drugs, if arises after their use.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A prospective randomised comparative study was conducted with 60 female patients of ASA physical status I and II aged between 18-65 years undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy who were randomly assigned to one of the two groups containing 30 patients each. We assessed the parameters such as response to the drug to what extent the drug is reducing nausea, retching and vomiting, postoperatively.
RESULTS
From this study, it was observed that ondansetron is as effective as dexamethasone in controlling postoperative nausea and vomiting. The side effect in this study was very low with one patient in group A (ondansetron) developing headache. It was relieved without any treatment. There were no side effects in group B (dexamethasone).
CONCLUSION
This study says that ondansetron, a 5HT3 antagonist in a dose of 4 mg, and dexamethasone, a glucocorticoid, in a dose of 8 mg are both effective prophylactic drugs in the prevention of PONV in laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anaesthesia.
We observed that-
ï?· Ondansetron is as effective as dexamethasone in preventing PONV in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
ï?· Both ondansetron and dexamethasone have minimal side effects.
ï?· Use of rescue antiemetic is same with ondansetron as well as dexamethasone.
