Objective: The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after general anesthesia with total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) was reported to be significantly lower than with volatile inhalational agents (13.3% vs 25%). However, no investigation of PONV risk factors associated with TIVA has ever been reported. This cross-sectional retrospective study aimed to investigate whether known risk factors influenced PONV in intubated general anesthetics utilizing TIVA for dental or oral and maxillofacial surgery.
Methods: Subjects were 761 patients who underwent dental or oral and maxillofacial surgery under TIVA with propofol, fentanyl, and remifentanil. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed using PONV (within 24 hours) as the dependent variable and previously reported risk factors as independent variables.
Results: Age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.020 per year decrease; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0002-1.0418; P = .047) and female sex (OR: 2.73; 95% CI: 1.60-4.84; P < .001) were positively associated with PONV. Sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) (OR: 2.28; 95% CI: 1.21-4.33; P = .011) and bimaxillary osteotomy (OR: 5.69; 95% CI: 2.09-15.99; P < .001) were more likely to be associated with PONV than operations that were neither bimaxillary osteotomy nor SSRO. Late PONV (2-24 hours) had an ∼2.7 times higher incidence than early PONV (0-2 hours).
Conclusion: These findings suggest further PONV countermeasures, aside from TIVA with propofol and prophylactic antiemetics for orthognathic surgeries especially bimaxillary osteotomy, are needed.
Keywords: Bimaxillary osteotomy; Postoperative nausea and vomiting; Propofol; Sagittal split ramus osteotomy; Total intravenous anesthesia.