Oral Aprepitant and Lower Dose Dexamethasone Versus Aprepitant Alone for Preventing Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV) After Elective Laparoscopic Surgeries

Nausea, Vomiting

Laparoscopic, Surgery, Postoperative, Nausea, Vomiting, Aprepitant, Dexamethasone, Postoperative Nausea, Postoperative Vomiting

The combination of aprepitant and lower dose dexamethasone is superior to aprepitant alone with respect to the proportion of patients with a complete response (no vomiting and no use of rescue therapy) during 24 hours after the placement of last suture/staple.

Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV) is a serious and common (50%-70%) complication of laparoscopic abdominal surgery. PONV is multifactorial, and the treatment is multimodal. Preoperative treatment should target the specific mechanism of PONV to minimize its incidence/consequences to the benefit of the patients. Aprepitant, a selective antagonist of neurokinin-1 (NK-1) receptors, blocks the emetic effects of substance P.5 Substance P action on the NK-1 receptors in the central nervous system (CNS) is one of the final pathways to an emetic response. Dexamethasone is an inexpensive and effective antiemetic drug with minimal side effects after a single-dose administration. The commonly used minimal effective dose is 8 to 10 mg, but the dose 5 mg is suggested for PONV in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgeries. Based on the literature review, occurrence of PONV does not significantly differ at dosing of Dexamethasone equal or higher than 4 mg. This study compares the incidence of nausea, vomiting, need for rescue medication, prolonged PACU time, and unplanned hospital admission in patients with high risk for PONV treated with oral aprepitant and dexamethasone or aprepitant alone preoperatively.

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