Biphasic dosing regimen of meclizine for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting in a high-risk population

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if giving 50 mg of meclizine the night before and on the day of surgery would effectively reduce postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) for the entire 24 hours after surgery in patients identified as being at high risk for PONV Subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 50 mg of oral meclizine (experimental group) or a placebo (control group) the night before and the day of surgery. All subjects were intravenously administered 4 mg of ondansetron before the conclusion of surgery. Seventy subjects (35 control; 35 experimental) were included in analysis. postoperaIn the placebo group we noted higher verbal numeric rating scale scores for nausea, a higher incidence oftive nausea and vomiting (PONV) continues to be a common complication after general anesthesia, with the incidence ranging from 17% to 87%.15 It has been reported that PONV increased antiemetic requirements, and lower overall anesthesia satisfaction scores at all time intervals measured, compared with the experimental group, but the differences were not statistically significant until analyzed by postoperative setting. No difference in sedation or side effects was noted between groups. Based on these results, we recommend that the administration of 50 mg of oral meclizine the night before and on the day of surgery be considered effective antiemetic prophylaxis in patients identified as having a high risk for PONV.