An alternative method to alleviate postoperative nausea and vomiting in children

To evaluate whether isopropyl alcohol vapor is an effective treatment for postoperative nausea and vomiting.

Double-blind, randomized, controlled study.

Pediatric surgery center.

91 ASA physical status I and II children age 6-16 years, scheduled to undergo general anesthesia and elective outpatient surgery.

Subjects were randomized to inhale isopropyl alcohol or saline. The intervention was repeated up to three times. If postoperative nausea or vomiting persisted after three sequences, intravenous ondansetron was administered as rescue therapy.

Improvement in nausea was assessed using a visual analog scale, and improvement in vomiting was assessed using categorical analysis. After three treatment sequences, 65% of the children in the treatment group and 26% of the children in the control group had a significant reduction in the severity of either nausea or vomiting (p = 0.03). However, 54% of subjects in the treatment group and 80% of subjects in the control group had recurrent nausea or vomiting within 20 to 60 minutes.

Under the conditions of this study, repetitive inhaled isopropyl alcohol only achieved a transient antiemetic effect in children with established postoperative nausea or vomiting following general anesthesia and surgery.