Postoperative Vomiting in Children - Is Dextrose an Effective Prophylactic Anti-emetic?

Overview

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of intraoperative intravenous dextrose in preventing POV in pediatric population undergoing dental day surgery. Post-operative vomiting (POV) in children is a frequent complication. Studies using intravenous (IV) fluids containing dextrose in the perioperative period have shown improvement of POV in adults. Similar studies have not been done in children. Knowing that Intravenous (IV) fluids containing dextrose are safe and commonly used in the paediatric population, this intervention could potentially reduce the amount of rescue antiemetic medications and improve recovery in same-day surgery paediatric patients.

A non-inferiority randomized control trial of healthy children (3-9 years old) undergoing ambulatory dental surgery was conducted to investigate the efficacy of intraoperative IV fluids containing dextrose for antiemetic prophylaxis. The control group (146 participants) received dexamethasone (0.15 mg/kg IV) and ondansetron (0.05 mg/kg IV); the intervention group (144) received dexamethasone (0.15 mg/kg IV) and intravenous 5% dextrose in 0.9% normal saline (D5NS) as per a weight based maintenance rate. Patients underwent a general anesthetic maintained with a volatile anesthetic. There was not a standardized protocol for anesthetic induction and maintenance, and all types and doses of anesthetic medications were chosen and administered at the discretion of the anesthesiologist. Intraoperative administration of any other antiemetic medications constituted protocol violation and excluded the patient from analysis. There were no modifications to the planned dental procedure. Once IV access was established and the patient was intubated, the maintenance study solution was connected and infused throughout the operative period. Additional fluid (Ringer's Lactate) was available to the anesthesiologists to administer as per their preference. The study drug was administered to the patient by the anesthesiologist at the end of the procedure, when the throat packing was removed and the IV maintenance study solution was stopped. Before emergence from anesthesia, the researcher measured and recorded the patient's blood sugar via a chemstrip (AccuCheck aviva ®). Ringer's Lactate IV fluid, not part of study protocol, was continued in recovery based on the anesthesiologist's preference. All patients were transferred to the post-anesthetic care unit (PACU) at the end of the procedure. Discharge from the PACU was based on the Post Anesthetic Discharge Scoring System (PADSS) and institutional guidelines. Nursing staff and researchers recorded the presence and incidence of POV in the PACU. Analgesics and antiemetic agents were prescribed by the anesthesiologist during the recovery period and given according to nursing assessment based on institutional guidelines. Researchers phoned participants 24 hours after discharge to inquire about incidence of emesis and any need to seek medical attention after being discharged from the institution.