[Preoperative anxiety and its influence over the postoperative nausea and vomiting]

Preoperative anxiety has been suggested as a predictor of postoperative nausea and vomiting, but supporting data are lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of preoperative anxiety on the risk of early postoperative nausea and vomiting. 30 patients participated in the study. The investigated factors--predictors and potential predictors--were: age, gender, smok ing history and preoperative anxiety. The anxiety was measured by the State--Trait Anxiety Inventory S--form (STAI S-form) and the Visual Analogue Scale for anxiety (VAS). The outcome was the occurrence of nausea and vomiting 12 h after surgery. 14 patients were with nausea and vomiting postoperatively and all of them were with a high preoperative anxiety. The most risk group for postoperative nausea and vomiting in this study is: young men, non smokers with high preoperative anxiety. There is an association between high level of preoperative anxiety and early postoperative nausea and vomiting.