The impact of nasogastric tube placement on the postoperative nausea and vomiting of patients who are undergoing cardiac surgery

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting after cardiac surgery is 30-40%.The role of a nasogastric tube for reducing the PONV is still controversial. METHODS: 92 patients who were undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were randomized to a receive nasogastric tube after induction of anesthesia (Group 2) or they were placed in the control group (no nasogastric tube) (Group 1).The patients with a history of gastric/esophageal surgery, esophageal varix, esophageal stricture and/or a history of antiemetic treatment were excluded.Routine fast-track cardiac anesthesia and postoperative care were employed for all the patients.The incidence of PONV was recorded hourly for the first four hours after extubation and then every 4 h afterwards for 24 h.The usage of antiemetics and pain medication was also recorded.The data was analyzed with t-tests and chi-square tests for the continuous variables and the categorical data, respectively.P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The groups were similar with respect to the demographic data, the surgical characteristics and the opioid usage.There was no significant difference in the incidence of PONV and the antiemetic usage between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that placement of a nasogastric tube did not have an impact on the incidence of PONV or the requirements for antiemetics after cardiac surgery.The results of this study do not support the use of a nasogastric tube to reduce PONV after cardiac surgery.