Assessment of the occurrence of nausea and vomiting among patients following the surgery

The Aim of the study was to assess the occurrence of nausea and vomiting among patients undergoing surgery of cholecystectomy and large bowel resection for colorectal cancer.

Material and methods: The research was carried out at the Department of General Surgery, University Hospital in Bydgoszcz. One hundred patients undergoing surgery of cholecystectomy and large bowel resection for colorectal cancer were included in the research.

A special questionnaire together with the Apfel scale were used for that purpose. Apfel scale is a scale used in anesthesia. On this basis, probability of PONV occurrence is assessed. Four characteristics are evaluated, the presence of which increases the risk of post-operative nausea and vomiting.

Results: Nausea appeared among more than a half of patients (n = 51; 52%), while postoperative vomiting among 1/3 of all patients (n = 34; 34%). Nausea and vomiting occurred significantly more frequently among women (p < 0.05) and among people, who reached a higher average score in Apfel scale (p < 0.01). Among the researched group, smoking did not decrease the risk of PONV in comparison to a non-smoking group (p > 0.05).

Conclusions: Nausea appeared among half of operated patients, while vomiting appeared among 1/3 of the patients, so it is worth thinking about the implementation of widely understood prophylaxis in this field. The Apfel scale is a well-respected tool for assessing the PONV risk and it has to be implemented in everyday nursery diagnostic procedures in the perioperative care of the patient.