Effect of preventive dexamethasone combined with droperidol on postoperative nausea and vomiting Induced by epidural morphine analgesia

Objective To investigate the influence of dexamethasone combined with droperidol on postoperative nausea and vomiting(PONV)during epidural analgesia with morphine. Methods 200 patients undergoing elective operation were randomly divided into 4 groups, 50 cases in each group. Control group received normal saline (NS)2ml; dexamethasone group received 10 mg(2ml) dexamethasone; droperidol group added droperidol 5 mg to epidural analgesia solution; dexamethasone combined with droperidol group received dexamethasone 5mg (1ml)and droperidol 2.5mg(1ml) at the end of operation. All patients received epidural analgesia with morphine. Pain rating, nausea and vomiting episodes were recorded for 24 h after operation. Results The incidence of nausea and vomiting in control group(22.4%)was higher than that in droperidol group(10%), dexamethasone group (12%) and dexamethasone combined with droperidol group (10.2%), (P0.05). There were no differences in nausea and vomiting among other preventive groups, (P0.05). Conclusions Dexamethasone and droperidol given alone or combination can decrease the incidence of nausea and vomiting during epidural analgesia with morphine,A combination of the two antiemetics reduces half of the dose without causing side effects ,such as extrapyramidal response.