An alternative method to alleviate postoperative nausea and vomiting in children

Study Objective: To evaluate whether isopropyl alcohol vapor is an effectiv e treatment for postoperative nausea and vomiting. Design: Double-blind randomized controlled study. Setting: Pediatric surgery center. Patients: 91 ASA physical status I and II children age 6-16 years, schedule d to undergo general anesthesia and elective outpatient surgery. Interventions: Subjects were randomized to inhale isopropyl alcohol or sali ne. The intervention was repeated up to three times. If postoperative nause a or vomiting-persisted after three sequences, intravenous ondansetron was administered as rescue therapy. Measurements and Main Results: Improvement in nausea was assessed using a v isual analog scale, and improvement in vomiting was assessed using categori cal analysis. lifter three treatment sequences, 65% of the children in the treatment group and 26% of the children in the control group had a signific ant reduction in the severity of either nausea or vomiting (p = 0.03). Howe ver, 54% of subjects in the treatment group and 80% of subjects in the cont rol group had recurrent nausea or vomiting within 20 to 60 minutes. Conclusions: Under the conditions of this study, repetitive inhaled isoprop yl alcohol only achieved a transient antiemetic effect in children with est ablished postoperative nausea or vomiting following general anesthesia and surgery. (C) 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc.