Influence of dexamethasone combined with ondansetron on postoperative nausea and vomiting related to epidural morphine for analgesia

Objective: To observe the effect of dexamethasone combined with ondansetron on postoperative nausea and vomiting related to epidural morphine analgesia.Methods: All of 240 female-patients scheduled for abdominal surgeries under combined spinal-epidural anesthesia were randomly divided into four groups.At the end of operation,Group A(control) received normal saline(NS) 4 ml.Group B received ondansetron 8 mg;Group C received dexamethasone 10 mg.Group D received dexamethasone 10 mg and ondansetron 8 mg.All patients received epidural morphine for analgesia after the surgery.Pain rating,nausea and vomiting were recorded for 48h after surgery. Results: The incidence of nausea and vomiting in group A(52.6%) was higher than that in group B and group C(P0.05),while nausea and vomiting in group D(17.5%) was lower than that in group A(P0.01),group B and group C(P0.05). Conclusion: Dexamethasone or ondansetron to be given alone can decrease the incidence of nausea and vomiting during epidural morphine for analgesia.A combination of the two antiemetics can reduce the incidence of nausea and vomiting further.