Comparison of predictive models in postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery

Post-operative nausea and vomiting remain an unresolved concern in Türkiye and some parts of the world, impacting the quality of the patient's recovery process and diminishing overall satisfaction.

This study was conducted as a descriptive investigation to compare the incidence of nausea and vomiting following breast cancer surgery with the nausea and vomiting risk scores proposed by Apfel and Koivuranta.

This study was conducted with 100 patients admitted to the General Surgery service of a university hospital between 31 August 2019 and 31 May 2021 for breast cancer surgery. The patient information form developed by the researchers, Apfel Nausea and Vomiting Risk Score, and Koivuranta Nausea and Vomiting Risk Score were used as data collection tools.

It was identified that 61% of the patients experienced nausea and vomiting within the initial 24 h following surgery. A significant correlation was found between age, post-operative opioid use, motion sickness or history of PONV, and nausea and vomiting (p < 0,05). The sensitivity of the Apfel score obtained was 80%, the specificity was 46%, and the AUC value was 0.686. The sensitivity of the Koivuranta score was 80%, the specificity was 35%, and the AUC value was 0.675 (p < 0.05).

It has been observed that patients experience high rates of nausea and vomiting after breast cancer surgery and that the Apfel and Koivuranta Risk Scores are equally applicable in predicting post-operative nausea and vomiting.