Antiemetic effectiveness of intraoperatively administered droperidol in pediatric strabismus outpatient surgery--preliminary report of a controlled study.

Low doses (0.05 mg/kg) of intravenously administered droperidol were given intraoperatively to randomly assigned pediatric strabismus patients in a controlled double-masked paradigm. No difference between control and treatment groups in the severity of vomiting was noted in the postanesthesia recovery room, but such a difference was probably present in the hospital rooms during the interval between room arrival and the meeting of hospital discharge criteria. Administration of the drug did not appear to produce somnolence sufficient to delay postoperative recovery.