Abstract

Objective: To determine the effect of pre-operative dexamethasone injection in reduction of postoperative nausea and vomiting versus placebo in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Methodology: This prospective randomized control study was conducted over a period of six months in Department of General Surgery, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (SZABMU) and included 110 patients with symptomatic gall stones. We used nonrandomized convenience sampling. Dexamethasone was given to study population and the other group was given normal saline as placebo. The overall rate of reduction in postoperative nausea and vomiting after intervention with dexamethasone was calculated.The data were analyzed by SPSS version 23.
Results: Dexamethasone succeeded in reducing (60.0%) nausea compared to (29.1%) placebo. Dexamethasone reduced vomiting in 58.3% cases compared to 25.5% in placebo group.
Conclusion: Dexamethasone is an effective drug to control postoperative nausea and vomiting. It is safe to recommend it before the start of laparoscopic procedures like cholecystectomy.

Key words: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, cholelithiasis, post-perative emesis, nausea and vomiting, dexamethasone.