Anesthesiologists have found an effective way to reduce the risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting In the first 24 to 48 hours after surgery under general anesthesia, patients often experience nausea and vomiting, mainly due to the anesthetics and pain medications. These symptoms make you feel worse and slow your recovery, so doctors are looking for ways to reduce this risk. An unconscious state under anesthesia does not mean that the nervous system stops responding to stimuli: in the past, brain responses to sounds have been recorded in patients under anesthesia. Hence the hypothesis that sounds in the operating room cause physiological reactions, even if the person does not hear them consciously. The team of anesthesiologist Liu Huaye from Suzhou University Hospital in China decided to check it out. Scientists investigated whether the risk of nausea and vomiting is affected not only by anesthetics, but also by noise, and whether it can be reduced non-pharmacologically. 192 women aged 18-65 who underwent minimally invasive gynecological surgeries under general anesthesia participated in the experiment. They were divided into two groups: the first group wore noise canceling headphones from the moment the anesthesia was induced until the end of the operation, the second did not. Anesthesia and prophylaxis were the same. The average noise is 66 decibels, as during a normal conversation. Among women wearing headphones, 35.4% experienced nausea and vomiting in the first 48 hours compared to 52.1% in the control group - a decrease of almost 32%. On the first day the symptoms were weaker. The brain's response to sounds during surgery was not measured and no evidence was shown that noise causes nausea, only a connection was found with a lower incidence of complications. The researchers presented their findings at the Anesthesia Conference in San Diego, USA.

Anesthesiologists have found an effective way to reduce the risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting In the first 24 to 48 hours after surgery under general anesthesia, patients often experience nausea and vomiting, mainly due to the anesthetics and pain medications. These symptoms make you feel worse and slow your recovery, so doctors are looking for ways to reduce this risk. An unconscious state under anesthesia does not mean that the nervous system stops responding to stimuli: in the past, brain responses to sounds have been recorded in patients under anesthesia. Hence the hypothesis that sounds in the operating room cause physiological reactions, even if the person does not hear them consciously. The team of anesthesiologist Liu Huaye from Suzhou University Hospital in China decided to check it out. Scientists investigated whether the risk of nausea and vomiting is affected not only by anesthetics, but also by noise, and whether it can be reduced non-pharmacologically. 192 women aged 18-65 who underwent minimally invasive gynecological surgeries under general anesthesia participated in the experiment. They were divided into two groups: the first group wore noise canceling headphones from the moment the anesthesia was induced until the end of the operation, the second did not. Anesthesia and prophylaxis were the same. The average noise is 66 decibels, as during a normal conversation. Among women wearing headphones, 35.4% experienced nausea and vomiting in the first 48 hours compared to 52.1% in the control group - a decrease of almost 32%. On the first day the symptoms were weaker. The brain's response to sounds during surgery was not measured and no evidence was shown that noise causes nausea, only a connection was found with a lower incidence of complications. The researchers presented their findings at the Anesthesia Conference in San Diego, USA.