[Postoperative nausea and vomiting after gynecologic abdominal surgery--a comparison of propofol versus inhalational...

Propofol has been reported to reduce emesis. This study was performed to evaluate the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in gynecologic abdominal surgery patients after propofol anesthesia and inhalational anesthesia. Sixty patients were evaluated for the incidence of PONV. Thirty patients received oxygen-propofol-epidural anesthesia (propofol group) and the others were maintained with nitrous oxide-oxygen-isoflurane/sevoflurane--epidural anesthesia (inhalational group). The incidence of PONV was 33.3% in propofol group and 60% in inhalational group (P < 0.05). The means of frequency of postoperative nausea were 0.63 and 1.97 in propofol-group and inhalational group, respectively (P < 0.05). Those of postoperative vomiting were 0.17 after propofol and 1.00 following inhalational anesthesia (P < 0.01). For the gynecologic abdominal surgery patients, PONV was significantly less following intravenous anesthesia with propofol than after isoflurane or sevoflurane inhalational anesthesia. This study indicated that propofol anesthesia was useful in reducing PONV after gynecologic abdominal surgery.