Reduction of postoperative vomiting by preoperative administration of oral metoclopramide

Preoperative oral metoclopramide was evaluted as a postoperative antiemetic agent. Two series of approximately one hundred patients were investigated in this context. One series was carefully controlled with regard to anaesthetic agents and technique. The other series had only one criterion of admission--the exclusion of narcotics. All patients received metoclopramide 20 mg by mouth or a placebo two hours before anaesthesia in a randomized double-blind fashion. A significant reduction in postoperative symptoms of antiperistalsis was observed in the metoclopramide-treated patients. On closer scrutiny it became apparent that, under these circumstances, metoclopramide is significantly more effective in males.