The Prevalence of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Orthopedic Patients in Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex during 2018-2019: A Cross-Sectional Study

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of the most common postoperative complaints of the patients that affects the surgical outcome, quality of life, length of hospital stay, and costs. The prevalence of nausea and vomiting is estimated at 52% and 25% within the first 24 hours after surgery. Many risk factors have been identified for PONV, including female gender, being a non-smoker, young age, general anesthesia, use of volatile anesthetics and Nitrous Oxide, and duration of anesthesia. Following receiving reports indicating an unusually high prevalence of PONV in the male orthopedic ward of Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex despite applying regional techniques, the present study was conducted to investigate its prevalence and possible reasons.

After obtaining informed consent, 300 patients admitted to male and female orthopedic wards of Imam Khomeini Hospital complex that had undergone surgery within the past 48 hours were interviewed in person and their medical records were reviewed.

Of 300 patients, 61 (20.3%) had nausea and 39 (13%) had vomiting. Three patients (1%) experienced recurrence of PONV after treatment. The risk factors associated with PONV were female gender, history of motion sickness, general anesthesia with sodium thiopental, atracurium, IV lidocaine, isoflurane, neostigmine, and postoperative administration of ciprofloxacin.

The prevalence of PONV was lower than other studies, which was in contrast to reports received from the ward, indicating a reduction in PONV following the use of regional techniques.