[The effect of intraoperative gastric juice retention on the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting].

The effect of intraoperative gastric juice retention on the incidence of nausea and vomiting during the first 24 h after anesthesia was studied prospectively in 166 patients (ASA PS I-II) for elective surgery, excluding the patients requiring gastric tube (NG tube) postoperatively. The incidences of postoperative nausea and vomiting in the recovery room and during the first 24 h after operation were 5.7 and 10.0% in NG group, in which NG tube was inserted after intubation and taken off after gastric suction at the end of operation; 15.8 and 7.9% in RA group, in which ranitidine 1 mg.kg-1 was premedicated; and 12.1 and 6.9% in NN group, in which NG tube or ranitidine was not used, respectively. There were no statistical differences in the incidence between these three groups and between NG + RA group and NN group. Other factors such as age, duration of anesthesia and operative procedure also did not influence the incidence. The results suggest that the retention of gastric juice during operation has little effect on the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting.