title: Postoperative nausea and vomiting after endoscopic thyroidectomy: total intravenous vs. balanced anesthesia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Endoscopic thyroidectomy was recently introduced and has been rapidly accepted by surgeons and patients. The present study was conducted to estimate and compare the incidences of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after endoscopic thyroidectomy using two different anesthetic methods: sevoflurane based balanced anesthesia; total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety nine female patients that were scheduled to undergo elective endoscopic thyroidectomy under general anesthesia were enrolled. These patients were randomly allocated to receive sevoflurane based balanced anesthesia (BA group) or propofol-remifentanil anesthesia (TIVA group). PONV was evaluated using a 4-point Likert scale, and pain using a visual analogue scale (VAS; range 0 to 100) for 0-2, 2-6, and 6-24 hours postoperatively. At 24 hours postoperatively, overall patient satisfaction regarding PONV and pain were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of PONV was 14.6% in the TIVA group and 51.3% in the BA group. The incidence of nausea at 0-2 and 2-6 hours postoperatively was lower in the TIVA group than in the BA group (4.2% vs. 35.9%, 6.3% vs. 23.1%, respectively), but no between-group difference was observed at 6-24 hours postoperatively (8.3% vs. 5.1%). Antiemetic usage at 0-2 and 2-6 hours was lower in the TIVA than the BA group (4.2% vs. 38.5%, 6.3% vs. 23.1%), but no between-group difference was observed for 6-24 hours (6.3% vs. 7.7%). There were no differences in pain or in patient satisfaction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After endoscopic thyroidectomy, total intravenous anesthesia with propofol-remifentanil is associated with less PONV during the early postoperative period (0-6 hours) than sevoflurane based balanced anesthesia.
authors: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Gunn Hee
authors: GH
authors: Kim
authors: Hyun Joo
authors: HJ
authors: Ahn
authors: Hyun-Soo
authors: HS
authors: Kim
authors: Si Ra
authors: SR
authors: Bang
authors: Hyun-Sung
authors: HS
authors: Cho
authors: Mikyung
authors: M
authors: Yang
authors: Jie Ae
authors: JA
authors: Kim