Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2001
Meta AnalysisAn increased body mass index is no risk factor for postoperative nausea and vomiting. A systematic review and results of original data.
An increased Body Mass Index (BMI) is almost always mentioned as a fundamental risk factor for postoperative nausea (PN), vomiting (PV) or both (PONV). However, multivariate analyses were unable to detect any correlation. Therefore, we asked whether an increased BMI is really a risk factor for PONV. ⋯ Systematic search of the literature provides no evidence for a positive relationship. Furthermore, our data confirm that an increased BMI is not a risk factor for PONV. This negative finding is important as focussing on the relevant risk factors is needed to allow for an objective risk assessment of PONV.