The Impact of Pharmacist Intervention on the Incidence of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting and the Anesthesiologist’s Decision on Preventive Measures

Abstract

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) are common and unpleasant postoperative complications. Although guidelines recommend preventative measures according to PONV risk, anesthesiologists do not always follow the guidelines. In this study, we investigated whether the pharmacists ʼ proposal of a PONV prevention method to anesthesiologists in accordance with the guidelines affected the decision-making of anesthesiologists and subsequent PONV development. Two hundred and five patients who underwent gynecological surgery at Keiyu Hospital were included in this study, and the number of preventative measures selected by an anesthesiologist and frequency of PONV complications before and after the pharmacists ʼ intervention were determined. After the intervention, the number of preventative measures imple-mented by the anesthesiologist increased in the PONV moderate- and high-risk groups ( P < 0.01) and incidence of PONV in patients decreased [odds ratio 0.362 (95 ％ confidence interval 0.174 – 0.726) ( P < 0.01)]. It is the intention of anesthesiologists for pharmacists to evaluate PONV risk and propose preventative measures that comply with guidelines to anesthesiologists. The results of this study show that the proposal of pharmacists on PONV prophylaxis affects anesthesiologists ʼ decision-making and is effective in preventing PONV.