Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting: A Descriptive Study

Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV) remains a problem, despite an evident clinical perception that their severity has diminished. We conducted a descriptive study in post-operative units in Sylhet M.A.G. Osmani Medical College and Hospital, Sylhet, Bangladesh during the period from January 2020 to December 2020. We aimed to find out the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients aged 3–79 years. Nausea, emetic episodes, and the need for anti-emetic medication were recorded for 24 h postoperatively. In the postoperative unit, the incidence of nausea and vomiting was 32% and 12%, respectively. Over the whole 24-h period, these figures were 47% and 34%, respectively; severe nausea was experienced by 13%. The highest incidence of emetic sequelae was observed in gynecological patients; 52% of the patients who received general anesthesia and 38% of the patients who received regional anesthesia reported nausea. The most important predictive factors associated with an increased risk for nausea and vomiting were female gender, a previous history of postoperative sickness, a longer duration of surgery, smoking, and a history of motion sickness. Based on these five items, a simple score predicting the risk of nausea and vomiting was constructed with a moderately good discriminating power. Once the efficacy of agents or their combination has been established against stratified risk groups, it would then be appropriate to explore the risk-benefit of routine prophylactic antiemetic therapy.