• Qiuju Xiong, Su Min, Ke Wei, Yanmei Yang, Jingyue Ma, Dan Liu, Menghua Zeng, and Lei Zou.
• Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Youyi Road 1, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 400016, People's Republic of China.
• Obes Surg. 2021 May 1; 31 (5): 1912-1920.

BackgroundDespite the administration of prophylactic antiemetics, some patients who undergo laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) remain at high risk for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). Although many trials have been conducted, the effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on the prevention of PONV remains unknown.MethodsSixty-two female patients undergoing elective LSG were randomly assigned to the TEAS combined with dexamethasone and tropisetron (TEAS group, n = 31) or dexamethasone and tropisetron (control group, n = 31) groups. The incidence and severity of PONV, as well as the need for rescue antiemetics, were collected within 48 h after surgery.ResultsThe patients in both groups had similar clinical characteristics and underwent the same surgical procedure. In the TEAS group, 13 patients (41.9%) had PONV within 48 h after LSG compared to 24 patients (77.4%) in the control group (P = 0.004, relative risk: 0.39 [0.19, 0.80]). The severity of PONV differed significantly between groups, with five patients (16.1%) in the TEAS group and 15 patients (48%) in the control group experiencing clinically important PONV (P = 0.007, relative risk: 0.62 [0.42, 0.90]). Moreover, fewer patients required antiemetic rescue medication in the TEAS group compared with the control group (29.0% vs. 58.1%, P = 0.021).ConclusionMultimodal antiemetic prophylaxis consisting of TEAS and antiemetics was effective in reducing PONV incidence and intensity in high-risk patients undergoing LSG.

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