Thus far, few studies have compared the effects of sugammadex and cholinesterase inhibitors on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), and the results have been controversial. Here, we compared the effects of sugammadex, neostigmine, and pyridostigmine on PONV by means of a five hospital analysis with propensity score matching. We analyzed adults aged ≥ 18 years who underwent general anesthesia between January 2014 and December 2019. Following propensity score matching, 7793 patients were included in each of the neostigmine and sugammadex matched patient groups (absolute standardized difference (ASD), 0.01-0.07), and 10,197 patients were included in each of the pyridostigmine and sugammadex matched patient groups (ASD, 0.01-0.02), while 19,377 patients were included in each of the pyridostigmine and neostigmine matched patient groups. (ASD, 0.01-0.19). The odds of PONV were low in the sugammadex group (odds ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.59-0.72; p < 0.0001) and pyridostigmine group (odds ratio, 0.22; 95% confidence interval, 0.20-0.24; p < 0.0001) compared to the neostigmine group, while there was no difference between sugammadex and pyridostigmine (odds ratio, 0.95; 95% confidence interval, 0.86-1.04; p = 0.281). Therefore, sugammadex and pyridostigmine may lower the incidence of PONV compared to neostigmine in patients undergoing general anesthesia.
Keywords: neostigmine; postoperative nausea and vomiting; pyridostigmine; sugammadex.