Background and Review of Literature: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) frequently occur in patients after anesthesia, significantly impacting patient satisfaction and potentially leading to untoward complications. Multimodal PONV prophylaxis for patients with increased risk factors should be implemented to decrease stay in the PACU and healthcare cost. While research has been extensively conducted on the use of multimodal prophylaxis using antiemetics, such as ondansetron and dexamethasone, research on combining those therapies with a subhypnotic propofol infusion during anesthesia with a volatile anesthetic has been insufficient. Purpose: This DNP project was designed to determine whether the addition of a continuous subhypnotic propofol infusion in conjunction with a volatile anesthetic decreases the incidence of PONV. Methods: This project utilizes a quality improvement design by the evaluation of a practice intervention to improve the guidelines on preventing PONV after anesthesia. A retrospective chart review was conducted, and Microsoft Excel was used to perform all statistical analyses. Implementation Plan/Procedure: A total of 60 patient EMRs met the criteria for this project and were utilized in this study. The patient EMRs were separated into a control and experimental group. Those in the experimental group all received a subhypnotic propofol infusion at 0.1-0.5 mg/kg/hr. The incidence of PONV in the PACU was recorded and compared for both groups. Implications/Conclusion: The results of this study concluded that the addition of a continuous subhypnotic propofol infusion in conjunction with a volatile anesthetic presents no added benefit in decreasing the incidence of PONV in the PACU.

Creator

• Paris, Kerri Ann

Language

• English

Keyword

• Subhypnotic Propofol Infusion

• PONV

• Volatile Anesthetic

Date created

• 2022

Resource type

• Research Paper

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/