Alizapride in the prevention of postoperative vomiting. A double-blind comparison.

Alizapride 50 mg intravenously was compared with placebo in a double-blind trial on 170 women undergoing planned soft tissue surgery under general anesthesia. Alizapride or placebo was given intravenously about 20 minutes before the end of the operation. A second and a third prophylactic dose was administered 4 and 8 hours after the first injection. The patients were observed for 24 hours postoperatively. A therapeutic dose of alizapride 50 mg was administered intravenously in the two groups if retching or emesis occurred in the postoperative period. In the alizapride group there was less retching or emesis than in the placebo-group and the difference was statistically significant. However, there was still a significant incidence of 34% of postoperative vomiting in the alizapride group. There were no effects on heart rate or on respiratory rate but small changes of blood pressure after the first and second prophylactic injection of alizapride have been noted.