ABSTRACT
Postoperative nausea a and Vomiting [PONV][1] are common complications after surgery. Propofol based nesthesia is a effective technique for decreasing of PONV. Most study are formed to evaluate efficacy of Dexamethasone in preventing of PONV, but there have been no reports to evaluate the efficacy of dexamethasone for preventing PONV in propofol -based anesthesia for D and C[1]. In a prospective, randomized double - masked, placebo controlled trial, 202 women received placebo or dexamethasone intravenously at doses of 4 mg, 8mg,.or 16mg immediately before Induction of anesthesia. Propofol based general anesthesia was used. Emetic episodes and safety assessments were performed to estimate sufficient sample size using chi- squar test with confidence interval 95% [alpha= 0.05 and beta=0.2]. The rate of patients who were emesis free [no nausea or vomiting] 0-24 hours after anesthesia was 78.4 in placebo, 81.1% in dexamethasone 4 mg, 90.0% in dexamethasone 8 mg and 95% in dexamethasone 16 mg. No clinically important adverse events were observed in any of the groups. Dexamethasone 8 mg is an effective antiemetic durg for prevention of postoperative nousea and vomiting 0-24 hours after anesthesia in women undergoing propofol based general anesthesia for termination of pregnancy. Increasing the dose to 16mg provided no additional benefit. In regard to cost, Dexamethasone is prefer to other drugs