Comparing the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting after strabismus surgery between laryngeal mask airway vs. endotracheal intubation

Aims and Nausea and vomiting after surgery is a common complication that can cause unpleasant feeling, increased hospitalization time, and increased cost. Even in some cases it leads to severe dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, aspiration, pneumonia, and even the opening of the surgical site which has been sutured. Selecting the device for airway management may affect postoperative nausea and vomiting, in part due to the irritation of the airway. Therefore, we decided to compare two methods of airway management in patients undergoing strabismus surgery regarding the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting. The study population underwent strabismus surgery with general anesthesia. Patients were randomly divided into two groups with either endotracheal intubation or laryngeal mask airway insertion. The severity of nausea and vomiting was assessed in the recovery room, 6, and 18 hours after the surgery. Nausea was measured according to the Verbal Rating Scale (VRS) criteria. 160 patients were enrolled and divided into two groups of 80. The groups were identical in terms of demographic data (age, weight, gender, symptoms, hemodynamics (except for heart rate before induction, 5 min and 15 min after induction), duration of surgery, number of muscles under surgery and number of eyes under surgery. Incidence of PONV in the recovery room, 6 hours and 18 hours after surgery were similar in both groups.