The effect of aromatherapy on postoperative nausea and vomiting: a systematic review and meta-analysis

To systematically evaluate the effect of aromatherapy on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV).

Randomized controlled trials on aromatherapy for PONV were identified through searches of PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, ClinicalTrials, and Scopus from inception until October 2025. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan Web and Stata 18.

Thirteen RCTs involving 1294 patients were included, with 661 patients in the aromatherapy group and 633 in the control group. The meta-analysis showed that, compared with the control group, the aromatherapy group had significantly reduced nausea severity measured by VAS within 24 h postoperatively (MD = -1.02, 95% CI: -1.60 to -0.45, P < 0.001), a significantly lower rate of rescue antiemetic use within 24 h postoperatively (OR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.20-0.55, P < 0.001), and a significantly lower composite PONV incidence (any nausea, retching, or vomiting within 24 h postoperatively) (OR = 0.24, 95% CI: 0.12-0.50, P < 0.001).

Aromatherapy demonstrates favorable clinical efficacy in alleviating PONV. No serious adverse events were reported in the included studies; however, safety outcomes were not systematically assessed, and further research is warranted.