Original article                                                               

UDC: 618.1/.14-089:616-072

doi:10.5633/amm.2012.0405

  

 

PATIENT POSITION AS A POSSIBLE RISK FACTOR FOR POSTOPERATIVE NAUSEA AND VOMITING (PONV) IN GYNECOLOGIC LAPAROSCOPY

 

Aleksandar Ćirić¹, Velimir Colić¹, Sava Rančić² and Duško Madzić³

 

                       Department for Anesthesia and Intensive Care, General Hospital Pirot, Serbia¹

                       Department for Gynecology and Obstetrics, General Hospital Pirot, Serbia²

                       Department for Gynecology and Obstetrics, General Hospital Sremska, Mitrovica, Serbia ³

 

 

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are still a significant problem in modern anesthetic practice. Discomfort caused by PONV intensifies other unpleasant elements of recovery, such as pain, frustration or fear. PONV also generates aversion to future anesthesia and have a negative impact on staff and patient's family. PONV can increase the cost of completing a surgical procedure, because it extends the time a patient spends in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) or delay discharge of ambulatory patients. It is generally accepted that the incidence of PONV after general anesthesia for various types of surgery in the last decade is still between 20-30%, and 70% in laparoscopic abdominal surgery. The incidence is three times higher in females compared to males. Many factors are involved in triggering PONV, such as patient-related factors, the type of surgery, anesthesia management, etc. The results of this study suggest that the patient positioning (modified supine lithotomy position with ''Trendelenburg") increases the risk of PONV in gynecologic laparoscopy. Acta Medica Medianae 2012;51(4):32-38.

 

      Key words: patient position, nausea, vomiting, postoperative, gynecological laparoscopy