Comparison between Dexamethasone Alone and its Combination with 5-Hydroxytryptamine Receptor Antagonist for Antiemesis during Laparoscopic Surgeries: A Double-blind Randomised Clinical Study

Abstract

Introduction: Post operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are often associated with the laparoscopic surgeries under general anesthesia (GA). The PONV guidelines recommended the use of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor antagonist (5-HT3RA) as the first-line prophylactic agents in patients categorised as high-risk for emesis perioperatively. There are very few studies comparing the efficacies of combinations of newer 5HT3 RA with dexamethasone. Aim: To compare the severity of emetic episodes as well as the complete response rate to antiemetics like dexamethasone or its combination with palonosetron or ramosetron during the first 48 hours after laparoscopic surgeries. Materials and Methods: This randomised clinical double-blind study Department of Anesthesiology at Mysore Medical College and Research Institute, Mysuru, Karnataka, India, from November 2014 to August 2016 among 90 patients, aged between 18 to 60 years belonging to the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) grade I and II scheduled for elective laparoscopic surgery under general anesthesia. They were randomly allocated into three equal groups. Group D received dexamethasone 8 mg, group RD received ramosetron 0.3 mg with dexamethasone 8 mg, and group PD received palonosetron 0.075 mg with dexamethasone 8 mg. Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV), retching were recorded via direct questioning or by the spontaneous complaints from the patients at 2, 6, 24, 48 hours. A scoring system was used to assess PONV. Complete response rate was also noted i.e, percentage of patients in a group with absence of nausea, retching, vomiting and no requirement of rescue antiemetic medications within postoperative 48 hours. Results: The baseline characteristics were similar in all three groups. Early and late PONV were significantly lesser with group-PD compared to group D (p-value=0.01) and group RD (p-value=0.007). The complete response rate in group PD (86.6%) was significantly highest compared to group D (40%) and group RD (76%). Rescue anlgesics required was nil in group PD compared to group D (36.3%), and group RD (10%) over 48 hours. Conclusion: Combination of palonosetron with dexamethasone is a better alternative to combination of ramosetron with dexamethasone in preventing PONV.