Intrathecal Fentanyl Versus Intravenous Ondansetron For Prevention Of Nausea-Vomiting During Caesarean Section Under Spinal Anaesthesia – A Randomized Controlled Trail

Abstract

Objective: To compare the efficacy of intrathecally administered fentanyl in preventing intraoperative nausea and vomiting with that of intravenous ondansetron in patients undergoing elective caesarean deliveries under spinal anaesthesia. Study design: A randomized controlled trial. Methods: One twenty healthy parturients posted for elective caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia using hyperbaric 0.5% bupivacaine were randomly allocated into two groups of sixty each. Group-F received 12.5µg of fentanyl intrathecally along with 2 ml of hyperbaric bupivacaine. Group-O received 4 mg of intravenous ondansetron. Intraoperatively, an anaesthesiologist blinded to the study recorded the presence or absence of nausea, retching and vomiting. The frequencies for nausea, retching and vomiting were compared using test of proportion for the two samples. The level of significance was taken as 0.05. Results: The incidence of nausea, retching and vomiting in fentanyl group is 11.67%, 5% and 3.33% respectively where as in ondansetron group the incidence is 26.67%, 20% and 18.33%. There is significant difference between two groups with the P values 0.037, 0.013 and 0.08 for nausea, retching and vomiting respectively. Conclusion: From our study we conclude that administration of fentanyl as adjuvant to spinal anaesthesia during caesarean section reduces the incidence of intraoperative nausea and vomiting