Reduction in post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) by preoperative risk stratification and adherence to a standardized anti emetic prophylaxis protocol in the day-care surgical population

CONTEXT: Postoperative nausea (PON) and postoperative vomiting (POV) are the most undesirable morbidity after anaesthesia. There is paucity of data on PONV from the Indian subcontinent. AIMS: We aim to study the prevalence of PON and POV, associated risk factors and the effect of following standardized risk stratification and prophylaxis protocols in the day care patient population. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a prospective cohort study at a tertiary care teaching institute. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Data from 500 patients undergoing day care surgery over a period of 12 months were analysed. We used the Apfel scoring system for evaluation of risk of post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) for each participant. A standard PONV prophylaxis protocol was used intra-operatively. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data analysis was done using the Mann-Whitney U test, the Chi-square and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: The period prevalence of post-operative nausea (PON) and post-operative vomiting (POV) was 2.04% and 2.45%, respectively, in this study. The prevalence of PONV in each risk category was lower than that predicted by the Apfel score due to utilization of a standard anti-emetic prophylactic protocol. We found younger age, previous history of nausea, previous history of vomiting, urological surgeries and alcohol consumption as significant risk factors for postoperative nausea. Longer duration of surgery, previous history of nausea, alcohol consumption and higher BMI were the significant risk factors for postoperative vomiting. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to preoperative risk stratification and a standard anti-emetic prophylactic protocol can significantly reduce the prevalence of postoperative nausea and vomiting.