Nausea and Vomiting after Septorhinoplasty Using Alfentanil or Remifentanil

The aim of this study was to compare Alfentanil with Remifentanil regarding postoperative nausea and vomiting. In this double-blind randomized controlled trial, we studied 60 patients, between 17-48 years old with American Society of Anesthesiologists class I or II undergoing septorhinoplasty. The patients signed informed consent and then were randomly divided into two groups. Induction was started similarly in both groups using Midazolam, Propofol and Atracurium whereas group one Alfentanil group (AL group) received Alfentanil and group two Remifentanil group (R group) received Remifentanil. We used Alfentanil with Propofol in the AL group or Remifentanil with Propofol in the R group as maintenance drugs. We assessed nausea and vomiting with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) from the extubation time until 24 hours after the surgery. We used ondansetrone to relieve nausea. Our patients had a mean age of 25.7±5.4. 75% were female and 25% were male. Duration of surgery had a mean time of 167.5±15.8 minutes and there was not statistically any difference between the two groups. We assessed nausea and vomiting incidence and severity on Visual Analogue Scale score in 0-1 hour, 1-6 hours and 6-24 hours after surgery. The highest nausea and vomiting incidence was in 1-6 hours after the surgery and the two groups were statistically the same. Our results did not show a statistically significant difference between using Alfentanil and Remifentanil as induction and maintenance drugs, regarding nausea and vomiting in the 24 hours post operation period.