[Postoperative nausea and vomiting after open heart surgery]

We investigated the incidence of the postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) following cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. We conducted a prospective study of 65 cases with direct interviews by anesthesiologists who are blind to this protocol every 6 hours during ICU stay. There were no differences in age, body mass index, dose of fentanyl, operating time, cardiopulmonary bypass time and ventilation time in ICU between PONV(+) and PONV(-). Incidence of PONV was 43%, but 70% of female patients complained of PONV. Prophylactic antiemetic strategy might be clinically relevant to female patients who are to undergo open heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.