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Okafor Ugochukwu, Amucheazi Adaobi, Richard Ewah, Okezie Obioma. Postoperative nausea and vomiting in a gynecological and obstetrical population in South Eastern Nigeria. The Pan African Medical Journal. 2010;7:6 Key words: Postoperative, nausea, vomiting, obstetrics and gynaecology, Africa, ethnicity Permanent link: http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/7/6/full Received: 07/09/2010 - Accepted: 10/10/2010 - Published: 19/10/2010 © Okafor Ugochukwu et al. The Pan African Medical Journal - ISSN 1937-8688. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Postoperative nausea and vomiting in a gynecological and obstetrical population in South Eastern Nigeria
Okafor Ugochukwu1,&, Amucheazi Adaobi 1, Richard Ewah1, Okezie Obioma2
1Department of Anesthesia, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria/ Department of Anesthesia, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Ituku Ozalla, Enugu, Nigeria, 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Nigeria teaching hospital (UNTH), Ituku Ozalla, Enugu, Nigeria.
&Corresponding author
Dr Ugochukwu Okafor, Senior Lecturer, Department of Anesthesia, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Phone: 009 234 8057980316, Enugu, Nigeria
Background
To determine the incidence of Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in a high risk surgical group following studies in other predominately black populations that showed a lower rate of postoperative nausea and vomiting than that reported from Caucasian and Oriental populations.
Methods
A retrospective observational survey was conducted in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, Nigeria to determine the incidence of PONV within forty-eight hours of anesthesia in an obstetrical (caesarean sections only) and gynecological population that underwent regional and general anesthesia. The study took place from December 2007 – April 2009 (16 months) for the gynecological population and from May 2008 to May 2010 (25 months) for the obstetrical population. The folders of 300 patients were randomly reviewed for demographics, anesthetic technique, diagnosis and documented records of PONV within 48hours of anesthesia.
Results
A total of 300 obstetrical and gynecological patients were used in this study. Twelve women vomited within forty-eight hours of anesthesia (12/300 or 4.0%). Nine patients vomited in the gynecological population (9/112) or 8% of the gynecological population and (3/186) or 1.6% in the obstetric population. All patients were American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) 1-4 including surgical emergencies.
Conclusion
The incidence of PONV in this surgical population is lower than that from most of the studies reviewed. This might be due to an inherent ethnic/racial variation. The economic implication of spending on expensive anti-emetics means more money can diverted to other needs.
