Does preoperative hydration affect postoperative nausea and vomiting? A randomized, controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

It has been suggested that relative hypovolemia due to overnight fasting may result in postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of preoperative and intraoperative hydration (the necessary amount of fluid preoperatively to cover the fluid deficit) on PONV.

METHODS

Two hundred and ten consecutive patients who underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy with The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)-I physical statuses were studied prospectively. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups, each having 104 patients. Group 1 received intraoperative volume replacement, but Group-II received preoperative volume replacement. Postoperative antiemetic efficacy was assessed by the ratio of the patients that require an antiemetic over the whole group.

RESULTS

The PONV was significantly less detected in the preoperative replacement group (48% in Group 2) than the intraoperative one (64% in Group 1) (P = 0.019).

CONCLUSIONS

PONV was reduced when the fluid deficit was replaced preoperatively.