Anesthesiology
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Meta Analysis
Omission of nitrous oxide during anesthesia reduces the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting. A meta-analysis.
Postoperative nausea and vomiting are important causes of morbidity after general anesthesia. Nitrous oxide has been implicated as an emetogenic agent in many studies. However, several other trials have failed to sustain this claim. The authors tried to resolve this issue through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting after anesthesia with or without nitrous oxide. ⋯ Omission of nitrous oxide reduced the odds of postoperative nausea and vomiting by 37%, a reduction in risk of 28%.