A Prospective, Randomised, Double-Blind Comparative Study of IV Granisetron Vs Dexamethasone as Antiemesis Prophylaxis in Patients Undergoing Elective Abdominal Laparoscopic Surgery

A Prospective, Randomised, Double-Blind Comparative Study of IV Granisetron Vs Dexamethasone as Antiemesis Prophylaxis in Patients Undergoing Elective Abdominal Laparoscopic Surgery. Introduction This prospective, randomised, double blind study compared the efficacy and adverse effects of injection Granisetron and Dexamethasone for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing elective laparoscopic surgery. Methods Sixty patients of either sex, aged 18-60 years, ASA grade I/II, posted for elective laparoscopic surgery were administered either Granisetron 40 g/kg intravenously, or Dexamethasone 160 g/kg intravenously just before the induction of Anaesthesia. The efficacy of study medication was assessed in terms of number of episodes of emesis, percentage of emesis free patients, percentage of nausea free patients for 24 hours post operatively. Results Sixty patients were randomized into group G (n = 30) and group D (n = 30). Total five patients (16 %) had nausea and one patient (3.3 %) had vomiting in group G. Whereas five patients (16 %) had nausea and two (6.7 %) had vomiting in group D at first four hours postoperatively. In 4 to 24 hours postoperatively, Granisetron proved to have superior antiemetic effect than Dexamethasone in which three patients (10 %) had nausea and six patients (20 %) had vomiting as compared to none with granisetron. Discussion The single dose of 160 g/kg of dexamethasone is economical, without any known adverse effects and is equally effective as granisetron in first 4 hours postoperative but Granisetron 40 g/kg is more effective in preventing postoperative nausea and vomiting with minimal adverse effect and will prove cost - effective in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgeries.