Preoperative pregabalin to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting in laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Abstract

Background. Postoperative laparoscopic cholecystectomy period is often associated with nausea and vomiting, which is stopped by an antiemetics injected intravenously. Meanwhile, it is known that the oral pregabalin before surgery to potentiate the effect of opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications during anesthesia also has an antiemetic effect.The objective was to evaluate the effect of oral pregabalin to reduce the frequency of postoperative nausea and vomiting in laparoscopic cholecystectomy cases.Methods and Materials. Randomized double blind study. One hundred patients of the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) class1 were tested and divided into two groups. The first group did not receive any antiemetics preoperatively. The second group received 75 mg of oral pregabalin 30 minutes before anesthesia. We followed up patients postoperatively in the recovery room and general surgical ward for 24 hours, recorded the incidence of nausea and vomiting, prescription of any antiemetics and developing their side effects. We assessed the risk of developing the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting by the use of the Koivuranta score.Results. Statistical analysis using SPSS showed a significant reduction of postoperative nausea and vomiting in the second group (pregabalin) compared with the first group.Conclusion. Preoperative 75 mg of oral pregabalin has antiemetic effect on postoperative time. No significant postoperative side effects were noted.