Nausea and vomiting after laparoscopic gynecological surgery: a study of the incidence and the effects of tropisetron prophylaxis.

The authors studied the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and the effect of prophylactic tropisetron, a 5-HT3 antagonist, during the first 24 h following elective gynecologic laparoscopic surgery. Thirty-two of 68 (47%) of the patients experienced nausea or vomiting some time during the observation period. Sixteen of the 32 PONV patients (50%) had their first emetic symptoms after discharge from the recovery room. We could see no difference in the frequency of PONV in the patients who were given prophylactic tropisetron 5 mg orally before anesthesia.