Incidence of emesis and postanesthetic recovery after strabismus surgery in children: a comparison of droperidol and lidocaine.

The authors sought to compare the antiemetic and sedative postanesthetic effects of droperidol versus lidocaine given intravenously. One hundred and fifty children, ASA physical status I or II, ages 2-15 yr, were studied. Each child was randomly assigned to receive either droperidol, 0.075 mg/kg; lidocaine, 1.5 mg/kg; or a combination of lidocaine, 1.5 mg/kg, and a reduced dose of droperidol, 0.025 mg/kg, immediately after induction of anesthesia, which was with thiopental, atropine, and succinylcholine. Anesthesia was maintained with halothane and nitrous oxide. The incidence of postanesthetic vomiting was 22% in the droperidol-alone group, which was significantly less than the lidocaine-alone group (50%). The incidence of vomiting in the combination group (30%) was not significantly different from either the droperidol- or lidocaine-alone groups. The time in the recovery room was significantly shorter for patients given lidocaine alone than those given droperidol alone or the combination. However, the mean time intervals from completion of surgery to recovery of full alertness and to discharge from the hospital did not differ significantly among the three groups. In summary, the authors found that intravenous droperidol is significantly more effective than lidocaine in reducing the incidence of vomiting in unpremedicated children after strabismus surgery. Furthermore, droperidol did not delay either the time to recovery of full alertness or the time to discharge from hospital compared to lidocaine.