title: The effectiveness of low dose droperidol in controlling nausea and vomiting during epidural anesthesia for cesarean section.
abstract: The antiemetic efficacy of 0.5 mg of droperidol was evaluated in 128 term parturients undergoing elective and non-urgent cesarean section with epidural anesthesia. Following delivery, parturients received intravenously either 0.5 mg of droperidol or normal saline in a double-blinded fashion. Droperidol decreased nausea after delivery from 41 to 13% (P=0.001). There was no significant decrease in the incidence of vomiting. Analysis of the data using logistic regression analysis showed that increasing age (P = 0.002), hypotension after delivery (P = 0.040), and vomiting prior to delivery (P = 0.017) were associated with increased nausea after delivery. No extrapyramidal symptoms or significant changes in pulse rate or blood pressure were associated with droperidol administration. We conclude that 0.5 mg of intravenous droperidol decreases nausea in term parturients undergoing non-urgent cesarean section with epidural anesthesia without producing unwanted side-effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Section of Obstetric Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University, The Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Mandell
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Dewan
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Floyd