A comparison of continuous intravenous infusion versus continuous epidural infusion of droperidol for the prevension of post operative nausea and vomiting

Appropriate analgesia is important for postoperative pain relief, the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and early postoperative recovery. Droperidol has strong antiemetic activity and is administrated for prophylaxis of PONV. An intravenous route of administration is generaly recommended for droperidol. The intravenous (IV) injection of droperidol bolus at the end of the surgery is recommended for prophylactic antiemetic therapy. Also, the repeated IV infusion of an antiemetic mixed with an opioid has been performed in the setting of patient-controled analgesia (PCA) . In contrast to IV administration, the continuous epidural injection (CEPI) of droperidol has been used along with epidural block for postoperative pain relief in Japan. It was reported that droperidol given by CEPI was more efective than placebo. However, the advantage of the epidural injection (EPI) of droperidol compared with IV administration is not clear. Also, a comparison between EPI and IV injection of a droperidol bolus showed that the IV route was superior to the EPI route for prophylaxis of PONV. We doubted the eficacy of the CEPI of droperidol in Japan. The continuous IV infusion (CIVI) of droperidol or its repeated IV infusion in the setting of PCA may be more efective than CEPI. However, this has not yet been investigated. We planed this study to evaluate the eficacy of the CEPI of droperidol. We hypothesized that the CIVI of A comparison of continuous intravenous infusion versus continuous epidural infusion of droperidol for the prevension of post operative nausea and vomiting