Buccal prochlorperazine as an antiemetic for day care surgery

This study compares the antiemetic effect of prochlorperazine in a buccal preparation with a control group as a preoperatively administered antiemetic. Fifty-two female day care patients undergoing gynaecological surgery or breast biopsy were studied. Patients were randomly allocated to two groups. Patients in group one received no antiemetic, while those in group two received 6mg buccal prochlorperazine one hour before surgery. Nausea was assessed with a visual nausea scoring system and interview similar to those used in previous series. Assessment times were before surgery and at one, four and 24 hours after surgery. Patient demographics and type of surgery were similar for the groups. The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting for the groups one and two was 57.7% and 15.4% respectively, p < 0.05. Most of the patients who experienced nausea in group one and two (86.7% and 50%) gave it a score less than five, indicating mild nausea. The majority of patients did not require treatment for postoperative nausea. The postoperative antiemetic and narcotic requirements were similar in the two groups. This study demonstrates that prochlorperazine at the dose used is effective in preventing postoperative nausea in the patient population studied.