Author(s)

Chang Yen Yin^1*, José Reinaldo Cerqueira Braz², Wei Tzon Hackan Chang Colares³, Lídia Raquel de Carvalho⁴, Marília Pinheiro Módolo², Paulo do Nascimento Junior², Norma Sueli Pinheiro Módolo²

¹School of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Federal University of Amazonas, UFAM, Manaus, Brazil.
²Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Botucatu, University of São Paulo State, UNESP, Botucatu, Brazil.
³School of Medicine, Federal University of Amazonas, UFAM, Manaus, Brazil.
⁴Bioscience Institute, Botucatu, University of São Paulo State, UNESP, Botucatu, Brazil.

Objective: To compare P6 acupuncture plus ondansetron with either ondansetron or P6 acupuncture in the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients submitted to spinal anesthesia. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was performed with 90 patients undergoing orthopedic surgery under spinal anesthesia with bupivacaine, 15 to 17.5 mg, and morphine, 100 μg. They were assigned to one of the three groups: Group Ondansetron (n = 30), patients were given ondansetron, 8 mg intravenously, before spinal block was performed; Group P6 acupuncture (n = 30), patients were subjected to bilateral electrical stimulation of P6 acupoint for 30 minutes before anesthesia; and Group P6 acupuncture plus ondansetron (n = 30), the exact combination of the groups Ondansetron and P6 acupuncture. Results: In the post anesthesia care unit, the incidence of nausea and vomiting ranged from 13.3% to 26.7% and from 6.7% to 13.3%, respectively, with no significant differences among groups (p > 0.05). Ondansetron group had the highest incidence of nausea (73.3%) (p < 0.001) and vomiting (43.3%) (p < 0.001) at the ward from 0 to 24 hours, followed by P6 acupuncture (33.3% and 26.7%) and P6 acupuncture plus ondansetron groups (16.0% and 0%). Conclusion: Preoperative stimulation of P6 acupoint in combination with ondansetron has higher efficacy than either P6 acupoint stimulation or the administration of ondansetron on the prevention of PONV in patients submitted to bupivacaine-morphine spinal anesthesia.

Anesthesia, Nausea, Vomiting, Acupuncture, Ondansetron

Yin, C. , Braz, J. , Chang Colares, W. , Carvalho, L. , Módolo, M. , Junior, P. and Módolo, N. (2017) A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing the Efficacy of P6 Acupuncture Plus Ondansetron versus Ondansetron or P6 Acupuncture in the Prevention of Nausea and Vomiting after Bupivacaine-Morphine Spinal Anesthesia. Open Journal of Anesthesiology, 7, 253-263. doi: 10.4236/ojanes.2017.78026.