Pre-operative Rectal Indomethacin for Reduction of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting after Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective: To evaluate the effect of pre-operative indomethacin suppository on postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Study Design: A double blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial. Place and Duration of Study: Hazrat Rasoul Akram Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from February 2010 to September 2012. Methodology: One hundred and thirty patients, scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy, were randomly divided into case and control groups. Sixty-five patients received indomethacin suppository and 70 patients received rectal placebo in the case and control groups respectively. All patients underwent the same protocol in laparoscopic surgery and anesthesia, then nausea and vomiting was recorded after 1, 6, 12 and 24 hours postoperatively and compared between the two groups. Independent-sample t test or Mann-Whitney tests were used for statistical analysis. Level of statistical significance was set at P <= 0.05. Results: Patients' nausea was statistically lower in the case group at the 1st hour (43.1 vs. 92.9%), 6th hour (20.0 vs. 68.6%) and 12th hour (7.7 vs. 24.3%) after surgery (for all periods, P < 0.001). Fewer patients in the case group experienced vomiting at the first (13.8 vs. 51.4%) and 6th hour (0 vs. 20%) after surgery (for both P <0.001). The use of pethidine was also statistically less in the case group in the same hours after surgery (for all of them, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Rectal indomethacin before laparoscopic cholecystectomy led to lower postoperative nausea and vomiting.