Postoperative pain and nausea after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Postoperative discomfort following cholecystectomy has diminished considerably since laparoscopic surgery was introduced. This study assessed the degree of postoperative pain and nausea when, during the operation, the trocar sites had been infiltrated with bupivacaine and antiemetics (ondansetron) had been administered. Postoperative pain intensity was moderate as 20% of the patients were managed without any opiates postoperatively and 88% did not require any opiates after discharge from the recovery room. Postoperative nausea and vomiting is known to be a problem that occasionally has been reported to delay discharge from the hospital. A single dose of ondansetron at the end of the operation seems to reduce postoperative nausea effectively. Two-thirds of the patients had no complaints of nausea, and the majority of the remainder experienced only mild and transitory nausea. We recommend that stab-wound sites be infiltrated with local anesthetics and that antiemetics be administered at the end of the operation.