Nausea and vomiting after general anesthesia with halothane or isoflurane A double blind randomized trial

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is potentially dangerous and causes morbidity and excessive costs to the patients. Prior investigators have reported controversies about halothane- and isoflurane-induced PONV, thus, the present study was conducted to compare these two drugs.

80 candidates for elective minor orthopedic surgery were randomly allocated into two groups, halothane (n= 40) and isoflurane (n=40). Confounding factors including sex, age, duration of surgery, NPO, history of general anesthesia, history of PONV, drugs, and history of disease were recorded in a questionnaire. PONV was assessed at three occasions (recovery, 3- and 6-hour post operative).

PONV was reported in 4 (10%) and 3 (7.5%) patients in halothane and isoflurane groups, respectively (NS). None of the patients suffered PONV 3- or 6-hour post operative.

Results revealed that the incidence of PONV can be hold low, with an aggressive control of risk factors, in addition, halothane or isoflurane seems to have no preference from this aspect to each other.