Supplemental oxygen does not reduce the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting after ambulatory gynecologic laparoscopy.

Supplemental 80% oxygen administration halves the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in inpatients. Whether it prevents PONV after ambulatory surgery is unknown. We tested the efficacy of supplemental 80% oxygen in decreasing the incidence of PONV after ambulatory gynecologic laparoscopy. One hundred patients were given a standardized sevoflurane anesthetic. They were randomly assigned to two groups: routine oxygen administration with 30% oxygen, balance nitrogen (Group A); and supplemental oxygen with 80% oxygen, balance nitrogen (Group B). Oxygen was administered during surgery and up to 1 h after surgery. The incidence of nausea and vomiting and the need for rescue antiemetics did not differ between the groups in the postanesthesia care unit, in the Phase II unit, or during the 24-h follow-up. The overall incidence of nausea and vomiting during the first postoperative 24 h was 62% in Group A and 55% in Group B (P = 0.486). There were no differences in the recovery profiles and patient satisfaction between the groups. In this study, supplemental oxygen did not prevent PONV in patients undergoing ambulatory gynecologic laparoscopy.