title: Postoperative nausea and vomiting. A comparison between intravenous and inhalation anaesthesia in breast surgery.
abstract: Nausea and vomiting during the first 24 postoperative hours after breast surgery were studied. Ninety patients scheduled for elective breast surgery were randomly assigned to one of three anaesthetic methods: total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol, or propofol or thiopental for induction followed by isoflurane anaesthesia. All three groups received fentanyl for peroperative analgesia. A total of 46 (51%) patients experienced emetic sequelae: 19 (21%) complained about nausea and another 27 (30%) vomited once or more during the postoperative course. More than 50% of the patients with nausea and 70% with vomiting first suffered from these symptoms in the surgical wards after leaving the postoperative unit. Nausea and vomiting were seen in 18 (60%), 13 (43%) and 15 (50%) for the groups propofol-propofol, propofol-isoflurane and thiopental-isoflurane, respectively. In conclusion, every second patient experienced nausea or vomiting after breast surgery, the majority of these emetic symptoms occurring after leaving the postoperative unit. Propofol for induction or as a main anaesthetic did not make any major difference with regard to postoperative nausea or vomiting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Karolinska Institute of Danderyd's Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oddby-Muhrbeck
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jakobsson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Andersson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Askergren
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000769:Anesthesia, Inhalation; D000771:Anesthesia, Intravenous; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007530:Isoflurane; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015742:Propofol; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014839:Vomiting / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D007530:Isoflurane; D015742:Propofol