Preventing nausea and vomiting after gynecological laparoscopic surgery by patient-controlled intravenous analgesia with a naloxone admixture: A randomized controlled trial

Opioid-induced nausea and vomiting are common side effects of patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA). This study aimed to explore the inhibitory effect of a naloxone admixture on the incidence of sufentanil-induced postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). METHODS: A total of 132 Uyghur American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II patients scheduled to undergo elective gynecological laparoscopic surgery were recruited; among these, 120 patients were enrolled and randomly allocated into 4 groups: patients receiving PCIA but no naloxone were included in the control group (group A); patients receiving PCIA with a low-dose naloxone admixture at 0.2 μg·kg(−1)·h(−1) were included in group B; patients receiving PCIA with naloxone admixture at 0.4 μg·kg(−1)·h(−1) were included in group C; patients receiving PCIA with naloxone admixture at 0.6 μg·kg(−1)·h(−1) were included in group D. All patients were administered sufentanil at 0.04 kg(−1)·h(−1), butorphanol at 2 kg(−1)·h(−1), and dexmedetomidine at 0.08 kg(−1)·h(−1) using a PCIA device within 2 days of surgery. The occurrence of nausea and vomiting, visual analogue scores for pain intensity, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, pruritus, lethargy, respiratory depression, etc, was recorded at 2, 8, 12, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the PONV scores between the groups at 8, 12, and 24 hours after surgery (P < 0.01). At 8 and 12 hours, the score of group C/D was significantly lower than that of group A/B (P < 0.01). At 24 hours after surgery, the PONV score of group B/C/D was significantly lower than that of group A (P < 0.01). No significant difference was observed in the general data and visual analogue scores for postoperative pain between the 4 groups. CONCLUSION: Naloxone admixture administered at 0.4 to 0.6 μg·kg(−1)·h(−1) can exert an effective inhibitory effect on the incidence and intensity of PONV in gynecological laparoscopic surgery.