Betamethasone in prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting following breast surgery.

Abstract

STUDY OBJECTIVE:

To investigate whether betamethasone decreases the incidence of postoperative nausea/vomiting (PONV) and reduces postoperative pain following partial mastectomy.

DESIGN:

Prospective randomized, double-blinded study.

SETTING:

Operating room and Postanesthesia Care Unit of a university hospital.

PATIENTS:

80 ASA physical status 1 and 2 women scheduled for elective breast cancer surgery.

INTERVENTIONS:

Patients were randomly allocated to two groups in double-blinded fashion: Group B (betamethasone; 37 pts) and Group C (control; 38 pts). Group B received 8 mg of betamethasone intravenously before the start of surgery.

MEASUREMENTS:

The rate of PONV and pain were recorded using a numeric rating scale (NRS; 0-10), as well as rescue doses of antiemetics (ondansetron) and analgesics (ketobemidone).

MAIN RESULTS:

There was a significant lower incidence of postoperative nausea (PON) scoring NRS ≥ 1 in Group B in the 4 to 12-hour period compared with Group C (P = 0.02). The cumulative incidence of PON was 57% in Group B versus 68% in Group C (P = 0.27). The overall incidence of postoperative vomiting (POV) was 18% and 20% in Groups B and C, respectively. Postoperative pain was reduced by 40% in Group B in the 4 to 12-hour period, but the mean dose of postoperative rescue analgesic did not differ between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS:

Preoperative betamethasone reduces the severity of PONV and pain in patients undergoing elective breast surgery.

• Authors: Knut J Olanders, Gerd A E Lundgren, Anders M G Johansson
• Journal: Journal of clinical anesthesia (J Clin Anesth) Vol. 26 Issue 6 Pg. 461-5 (Sep 2014) ISSN: 1873-4529 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 25195060 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antiemetics
• Betamethasone

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Antiemetics (therapeutic use)
• Betamethasone (therapeutic use)
• Breast Neoplasms (surgery)
• Double-Blind Method
• Female
• Humans
• Mastectomy, Segmental
• Middle Aged
• Pain Measurement (methods)
• Pain, Postoperative (prevention & control)
• Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (prevention & control)
• Preanesthetic Medication (methods)
• Prospective Studies
• Severity of Illness Index