Acupuncture versus ondansetron in the prevention of postoperative vomiting- A study of children undergoing dental surgery

This study compares the anti-emetic effect of acupuncture with that of onda nsetron and a placebo. Ninety children undergoing dental treatment under ge neral anaesthesia were randomly allocated to one of the three equal groups, to receive acupuncture needle insertion, intravenous ondansetron 0.15 mg.k g(-1) or a placebo. Parental satisfaction scores and the incidence of emeti c episodes were recorded. A significant difference was found in the number of patients who vomited and the total number of the emetic episodes when co mparing the two treatment groups with the placebo group (p<0.0001). A signi ficant difference was also found between the treatment groups and the place bo group with respect to parental satisfaction score (p<0.03). We conclude that traditional Chinese acupuncture is a valid non-pharmacological alterna tive anti-emetic treatment that can be recommended as a prophylactic techni que in children undergoing dental surgery under general anaesthesia.