Choice of Anesthetic for Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery Can Reduce the Use of Rescue Antiemetics in Postanesthesia Recovery Room: A Retrospective Observational Study.

Objective: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a frequent adverse event after bariatric surgery and is associated with patient dissatisfaction and increased health care burden. Aggressive multimodal antiemetic prophylaxis and the use of propofol infusion during anesthesia are associated with the reduction of PONV. In this study, we examined the use of rescue antiemetics following bariatric surgery performed with 3 different anesthetic strategies designed to reduce PONV: (1) primary volatile (VOL) anesthetic and propofol (PROP) infusion (VOL+PROP), (2) volatile anesthetic with propofol and dexmedetomidine (DEX) infusions (VOL+PROP+DEX), or (3) opioid-sparing total intravenous anesthesia (PROP+DEX).

Methods: In this retrospective observational study, we included patients undergoing bariatric surgery from 2018-2022 who received 1 of 3 anesthetics: (1) VOL+PROP, (2) VOL+PROP+DEX, or (3) opioid-sparing PROP+DEX without a VOL. Inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis determined the association between the need for rescue-antiemetics in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) and following PACU discharge.

Results: Three hundred thirty-two patients received VOL+PROP, 354 VOL+PROP+DEX, and 166 PROP+DEX, and all received prophylactic antiemetics during surgery. After surgery, the PROP+DEX patients received fewer rescue antiemetics in the PACU compared with VOL+PROP (11% vs. 24%, P=0.002), and VOL+PROP+DEX fewer compared with VOL+PROP (16% vs. 24%, P=0.023). This differential antinausea effect was limited to PACU stay only. Rescue antiemetic use increased across all anesthetic management groups following PACU discharge until midnight on the day of surgery (ranging from 38% to 46% across groups, P=0.71) and through the first postoperative day (ranging from 47% to 57% across groups, P=0.20).

Conclusions: The benefit associated with anesthetic strategies designed to reduce PONV was present but did not persist past PACU discharge. This finding suggests that aggressive perioperative multimodal antiemetic prophylaxis combined with anesthetic strategies designed to prevent PONV after bariatric surgery have only a short-lived effect, thus health care staff in hospital wards may expect to encounter high rates of PONV in these patients. There is a need for the development of novel antinausea treatments to reduce the rate of this frequent postoperative complication.