Efficacy and safety of intraperitoneal dexamethasone on postoperative nausea and vomiting following laparoscopy: study protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Intraperitoneal dexamethasone has been reported to be effective to reduce the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). Therefore, this meta-analysis will analyse the efficacy and safety of intraperitoneal dexamethasone on PONV following laparoscopy. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Electronic databases (eg, Cochrane Library, PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database, Web of Science, National Institute of Informatics, Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System and China National Knowledge Infrastructure) and clinical trial registries will be systematically searched from their inception to 1 October 2022. After the study and data collection processes, we will identify randomised controlled trials that reported details of intraperitoneal dexamethasone on PONV following laparoscopy to conduct a meta-analysis. We will perform the study process and data collection separately. The collected data will be statistically analysed using Review Manager 5.4 software. The risk of bias will be assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool 2. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation certainty assessment, and a trial sequential analysis will be conducted to ensure the accuracy of this meta-analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval and patient consent are not required since this study is a systematic review and meta-analysis. The findings of this meta-analysis will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42022362924.