Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jan-Mar;14(1):48-56.
doi: 10.4103/sja.SJA_401_19. Epub 2020 Jan 6.

Prevalence of postoperative nausea and vomiting: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Mehrbanoo Amirshahi  1 , Niaz Behnamfar  2 , Mahin Badakhsh  1 , Hosein Rafiemanesh  3 , Khadije Rezaie Keikhaie  4 , Mahmood Sheyback  5 , Mahdeh Sari  6
Affiliations

Prevalence of postoperative nausea and vomiting: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Mehrbanoo Amirshahi et al. Saudi J Anaesth. 2020 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a daily phenomenon, to which less attention has been paid in a variety of surgeries. Despite the individual studies, there is no comprehensive study on the prevalence of PONV. The aim of this study was to determine the global prevalence of PONV.

Materials and methods: In this systematic and meta-analysis study, descriptive studies of four databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar) were searched for relevant texts from the time they were created until 31 December 2018. The random effects model was used for meta-analysis of studies included. All the steps were carried out by two individuals. Hoy et al.'s tool was used to evaluate its risk bias.

Results: A total of 23 studies that were performed on 22,683 people from 11 countries were entered into the final phase. The prevalence of PONV, nausea, and vomiting was 27.7%, 31.4%, and 16.8%, respectively. The prevalence of PONV was higher during the first 24 h in European countries.

Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of PONV and our goal to better control it, it is necessary to use high cost-effective approaches and recommendations and to educate health caregivers and patients.

Keywords: Meta-analysis; postoperative nausea and vomiting; prevalence; surgery complications.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of study selection
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot and pooled analyses of nausea and vomiting prevalence after surgery worldwide
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot, pooled analyses, and subgroup analyses by continents for estimation of PONV prevalence after surgery worldwide
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot, pooled analyses, and subgroup analyses by type of surgery for estimation of PONV prevalence after surgery worldwide
Figure 5
Figure 5
Meta-regression between prevalence of PONV and year of study publication, total and sex ratio sample size, and mean age of participants worldwide
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dolin S, Cashman J, Bland J. Effectiveness of acute postoperative pain management: I. Evidence from published data. Br J Anaesth. 2002;89:409–23. - PubMed
    1. Becker DE. Nausea, vomiting, and hiccups: A review of mechanisms and treatment. Anesth Prog. 2010;57:150–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Apfel C, Heidrich F, Jukar-Rao S, Jalota L, Hornuss C, Whelan RP, et al. Evidence-based analysis of risk factors for postoperative nausea and vomiting. Br J Anaesth. 2012;109:742–53. - PubMed
    1. Gan TJ, Meyer TA, Apfel CC, Chung F, Davis PJ, Habib AS, et al. Society for ambulatory anesthesia guidelines for the management of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Anesth Analg. 2007;105:1615–28. - PubMed
    1. Kovac AL. Update on the management of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Drugs. 2013;73:1525–47. - PubMed