Comparison of ondansetron and metoclopramide antiemetic prophylaxis in maxillofacial surgery patients

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of ondansetron and metoclopramide, administered for the prophylaxis of vomiting in patients undergoing oral and maxillofacial surgery under general anesthesia. Methods. One hundred patients undergoing mandibular osteotomy surgery were studied. Patients were allocated randomly to receive 1 of 2 treatment regimens: 0.15 mg/kg ondansetron or 0.5 mg/kg metoclopramide intravenously 30 minutes before extubation. All were adults and were treated by one surgeon and all operations were the same and lasted 2.5 to 3.0 hours. The patients were assessed at 3 time periods: 0 to 3 hours, 3 to 12 hours, and 12 to 24 hours postoperatively for emesis. Result. The data from this study showed that during the first 24-hour postoperative period, patients receiving ondansetron following general anesthesia had an 11% (11 patients) incidence of emesis compared with 28% (22 patients) in the group that received metoclopramide. Conclusion. In this study, ondansetron (0.1 mg/kg) was twice as effective in preventing postoperative vomiting compared with metoclopramide. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2011;111:275-277)