Dolasetron decreases postoperative nausea and vomiting after breast surgery

In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial, we compared the efficacy of dolasetron, dexamethasone, and metoclopramide in a preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting in women undergoing breast surgery. Patients were allocated randomly to one of four groups (20 patients each): group A received 12.5 mg dolasetron, group B received 8 mg dexamethasone, group C received 20 mg metoclopramide, and group D received placebo intravenously. If patients complained of retching or vomiting or if patients demanded an antiemetic, 1.25 mg droperidol was administered intravenously. To quantify postoperative nausea and vomiting, the following score was used: 0 = no nausea, 1 = nausea, 2 = retching, 3 = single vomiting, 4 = multiple vomiting. Dolasetron and dexamethasone reduced the postoperative nausea and vomiting score significantly (p < 0.02 versus metoclopramide; p < 0.0001 versus placebo). Metoclopramide also reduced the postoperative nausea and vomiting score (p < 0.02 versus placebo). Fisher's exact test showed a significant reduction of vomiting in the dolasetron and dexamethasone groups compared with metoclopramide-treated patients (p < 0.007) and placebo-treated patients (p < 0.000006) and a significantly lower rate of nausea in comparison to the placebo group (p < 0.009). There were no significant differences between the metoclopramide and the placebo groups (using Fisher's exact test). The use of postoperative droperidol was significantly lower in both the dolasetron group (p < 0.04 versus metoclopramide; p < 0.0001 versus placebo) and dexamethasone group (p < 0.04 versus metoclopramide; p < 0.0001 versus placebo), as well as in the metoclopramide group (p < 0.02 versus placebo). Intravenous dolasetron and dexamethasone were equally effective and both are more effective than metoclopramide for preventing vomiting after breast surgery. Also both were significantly superior to either metoclopramide or placebo for postoperative nausea and vomiting and the need for droperidol rescue.