Risk factors for postoperative nausea and vomiting in pediatric patients undergoing ambulatory dental treatment

This study aimed to determine the risk factors for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in children receiving dental treatment under general anesthesia and to identify the subcategories leading to risk formation.

The study comprised of 100 American Society of Anesthesiologists I patients aged 2-7 years who were administered dental treatment under general anesthesia. Patients were evaluated with regard to PONV risk. Eight different independent risk factors were identified as follows: age, gender, weight, duration of anesthesia, duration of recovery, postoperative pain, rescue analgesia, and type of dental treatment. Classification and regression trees method was used to choose the best predictor for PONV.

The incidence of PONV was 25%. No significant difference was found between those with PONV and those without PONV with regard to gender, weight, duration of anesthesia, duration of recovery, or the type of dental treatment (P > 0.05). However, postoperative pain level and use of rescue analgesia with tenoxicam were both predictors of PONV (P < 0.05). For the postoperative pain (≤1.5) subgroup, age proved to be the best predictive variable.

The risk limit for PONV was determined to be ≥5.5 years for children who underwent dental procedures under general anesthesia. Postoperative pain and rescue analgesia constituted risks for PONV.