• A Tropé and J C Raeder.
• Medisinske fakultet HälsoUniversitetet i Linköping SE-58 185 Linköping.
• Tidsskr. Nor. Laegeforen. 2000 Aug 30;120(20):2423-6.

BackgroundIn order to identify patients who may benefit from prophylactic anti-emetic medication during surgery, it is of interest to evaluate risk factors for postoperative nausea and vomiting preoperatively by a simple scoring system.Material And MethodsIn this retrospective study we evaluated the ability to assess the risk of PONV by a preoperative clinical score developed in our institution (U-score, 0-13 points) and two simple scoring systems from the literature (A-score, 0-4 points and K-score, 0-5 points). 120 patients were interviewed 24 hours after a surgical procedure. Possible risk factors for PONV were scored and compared to the occurrence of PONV.Results60% of patients experienced PONV during the first 24 postoperative hours. No difference was seen between those who had received droperidol prophylaxis and those who had not. A significant correlation (p < 0.01) were seen on all scoring systems between occurrence of PONV and high score. With the U-score, 78% of the patients with a score > 7 experienced PONV, compared to only 41% of those with a score < 6.InterpretationWe suggest that patients with a U-score > 7 should receive effective prophylaxis against PONV, i.e. not droperidol only. Further evaluation of different scoring systems should be carried out in larger patient populations. Simplified systems, such as the A-score or K-score or simplified U-score, may be sufficient in uniform surgical populations. The U-score may be more universal because anaesthetic method and use of postoperative opioids are also included.

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