• Carl E Rosow, Kenneth L Haspel, Sarah E Smith, Loreta Grecu, and Edward A Bittner.
• Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St., Boston, MA 02114, USA. crosow@partners.org
• Anesth. Analg. 2008 May 1;106(5):1407-9, table of contents.

BackgroundHaloperidol is effective for postoperative nausea and vomiting prophylaxis, but there are almost no data comparing it to 5-HT(3) antagonists.MethodsTwo hundred forty-four adults were randomized to receive i.v. haloperidol 1 mg or ondansetron 4 mg, during general anesthesia. Nausea, vomiting, need for rescue, sedation, extrapyramidal effects, QTc intervals, and time to postanesthesia care unit discharge were evaluated with a third-party blind design.ResultsThere was no intergroup difference in any measure of efficacy or toxicity. Haloperidol and ondansetron subjects (78.2% and 76.8%) had complete response. Postoperatively, prolonged QTc occurred in 28.9% and 22.1% (N.S.).ConclusionsIn a mixed surgical population, the efficacy and toxicity of postoperative nausea and vomiting prophylaxis with haloperidol 1 mg was not significantly different from ondansetron 4 mg.

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