Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, Vol 7, 116-126, Copyright © 1960 by Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting: The Response to Anti-emetic Drugs with Special Reference to Cyclizine and Perphenazine

¹ Associate Chief of Anaesthesia, Women's College Hospital, Toronto

A study of 1,403 patients has been conducted in relation to the efficiency of certain anti-emetic drugs used before and during operation. The drugs included in the survey were cyclizine and the meperidine-perphenazine, meperidine-promethazine-chlorpromazine sequences. A control group was established in which the patients did not receive any anti-emetic drugs before or during anaesthesia. The distribution of types of major operations and of anaesthetics given in the treated and control groups were compared.

The groups, established apart from the controls, were: (a) meperidine-promethazine-chlorpromazine during operation; (b) meperidine-perphenaizine also during operation; (c) cyclizine suppositories 100 mg. in the recovety room; (d) cyclizine 50 mg. intramuscularly with the preoperative sedation; (e) cyclizine 50 mg. preoperatively supported by one of the aforementioned meperidine sequences during anaesthesia. The results indicate that cyclizine does not improve the postoperative vomiting to any significant degree, whereas the meperidine tranquillizer sequences show a significant decrease in the incidence of vomiting. A study, of the postoperative treatment or 401 patients who vomited within 36 hours of operation indicated that intramuscular administrations of cyclizine produced significant improvement.