Objective
The aim of the study was to assess the effi cacy and safety of palonosetron versus ondansetron
for postoperative nausea and vomiting during middle ear surgery.
Patients and methods
This study was conducted on 60 patients, ASA I and II, ages ranging between 23 and 48 years,
scheduled for middle ear surgery; they were randomly allocated into two equal groups: group
1 received ondansetron (4 mg) intravenously and group 2 received palonosetron (0.25 mg)
intravenously. All medications were given over 30 s immediately before induction of general
anesthesia. The duration of surgery, hemodynamic parameters, the severity and frequency
of nausea, retching, and vomiting, time to recovery, and time to discharge of all patients
were recorded. The patient’s requests for rescue antiemetics and details of adverse events
throughout the study were recorded.
Results
A total of 28 patients in group 2 and 22 patients in group 1 had complete response to antiemetic
drugs. No patient in group 2 needed rescue antiemetic, whereas four patients in group 1
received ondansetron (4 mg) as rescue. With respect to the severity of nausea, group 2
showed signifi cant decrease in nausea score in comparison with group 1. With respect to the
complications, four patients in group 2 and one patient in group 1 developed headache. One
patient in group 2 had diarrhea.
Conclusion
Palonosetron is a good antiemetic alternative during anesthesia with minimal side effects. |
