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Updated: Jun 11, 2026

Recording Brain Electromagnetic Activity During the Administration of the Gaseous Anesthetic Agents Xenon and Nitrous Oxide in Healthy Volunteers
Published on: January 13, 2018
Nitrous oxide makes me sick: or does it? Nitrous oxide and postoperative nausea and vomiting
1Operating Department Practice, Canterbury Christchurch University, Rowan Williams Court, 30 Pembroke Court, Chatham Maritime, ME4 4UF. luke.ewart@canterbury.ac.uk
Abstract:
This article evaluates whether avoidance of nitrous oxide in general anaesthesia can improve clinical outcomes in surgical patients by reducing postoperative nausea and vomiting, and whether avoidance should become part of a routine clinical management strategy. Despite some controversy, the greatest strength of evidence suggests that avoidance of nitrous oxide may be justified as a pre-emptive perioperative strategy as part of a multimodal approach to postoperative nausea and vomiting, especially in those patients known to have a higher baseline risk.
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