Prevention of vomiting after general anesthesia for pediatric ophthalmic surgery.

ABSTRACT

We evaluated the effectiveness of a multifaceted general anesthesia protocol designed to minimize postoperative vomiting after pediatric eye surgery. A convenience sample of 150 consecutive children, aged 2 weeks to 18 years, who received general anesthesia for pediatric ophthalmic surgery was studied. General anesthesia was administered with induction by mask for 82.7% of the children and intravenously using propofol in 17.3% of the children. Anesthesia was maintained using halothane or isoflurane, oxygen, and air mixture for all patients. Morphine sulfate was used for additional pain relief, up to 0.1 mg/kg. Gastric aspiration was performed after intubation for each child. Metoclopramide, 0.15 mg/kg, and 0.1 mg/kg of ondansetron were administered before the end of each operation. Postoperatively, patients were monitored for vomiting for 24 hours. Postoperative vomiting occurred in 11 (7.3%) of 150 cases. Acute elevation of intraocular pressure was found in 5 of the 11 children who vomited. This vomiting was unresponsive to intravenous rescue ondansetron, but responded to lowering the intraocular pressure. The incidence of postoperative vomiting after general anesthesia for pediatric eye surgery can be substantially decreased by adopting a protocol designed to lessen the emetic effects of general anesthesia. Limited use of nitrous oxide for mask induction only, gastric emptying, and administration of metoclopramide and ondansetron intravenously in combination proved effective in reducing the incidence of postoperative vomiting.