[Continuous epidural administration of droperidol to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting]

This randomized double-blind trial was designed to evaluate the antiemetic effect of continuous epidural analgesia with droperidol mixed with bupivacaine and buprenorphine. We studied 78 patients for abdominal gynecological surgery under general-epidural anesthesia. After recovery from anesthesia, they received epidural administration of 0.25% bupivacaine 40 ml and buprenorphine 0.4 mg with or without droperidol 2.5-5.0 mg at a rate of 2 ml.h-1 for 24 hours. The addition of droperidol 5.0 mg led to serious undesirable effects. Droperidol 2.5 mg, however, showed not only significant antiemetic effect without any adverse action, but also the reduction of rescue analgesics. We conclude that the addition of a small dose of droperidol to epidural analgesics reduces the incidence of postoperative emesis and the requirement of rescue analgesics.