title: Acupressure and ondansetron for postoperative nausea and vomiting after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacy of acupressure wrist bands and ondansetron for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV).
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and fifty ASA I-II, patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy were included in a randomized, prospective, double-blind and placebo-controlled study. Patients were divided into three groups of 50. Group I was the control; Group II received ondansetron 4 mg iv just prior to induction of anesthesia; in Group III acupressure wristbands were applied at the P6 points. Acupressure wrist bands were placed inappropriately in Groups I and II. The acupressure wrist bands were applied 30 min prior to induction of anesthesia and removed six hours following surgery. Anesthesia was standardized. PONV were evaluated separately as none, mild, moderate or severe within six hours of patients' arrival in the postanesthesia care unit and then at 24 hr after surgery by a blinded observer. If patients vomited more than once, they were given 4 mg ondansetron iv as the rescue antiemetic. Results were analyzed by Z test. A P value of < 0.05 was taken as significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of PONV and the requirement of rescue medication were significantly lower in both the acupressure and ondansetron groups during the first six hours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acupressure at P6 causes a significant reduction in the incidence of PONV and the requirement for rescue medication in the first six hours following laparoscopic cholecystectomy, similar to that of ondansetron 4 mg iv.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesia, and Biostatistics, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India. aagarwal@sgpgi.ac.in
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: Neeta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bose
authors.forename: Atul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaur
authors.forename: Uttam
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Mithlesh Kumar
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Singh
mesh_terms: D019050:Acupressure; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000932:Antiemetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017081:Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017294:Ondansetron / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020250:Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000932:Antiemetics; D017294:Ondansetron