Combination of Haloperidol, Dexamethasone, and Ondansetron Reduces Nausea and Pain Intensity and Morphine Consumption after Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Abstract

Background and objective: : Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) occur frequently after laparoscopic bariatric surgery. The combination of haloperidol, dexamethasone, and ondansetron may reduce these undesirable events. The aim of this study was to evaluate the intensity of nausea and pain, the number of vomiting episodes, and morphine consumption in postoperative (PO) obese patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Method: A clinical, randomized, controlled, double-blind study conducted with 90 patients with body mass index ≥ 35 kg.cm-2. Patients were divided into three groups of 30 individuals to receive ondansetron 8 mg (Group O); ondansetron 8 mg and dexamethasone 8 mg (Group OD); and ondansetron 8 mg, dexamethasone 8 mg, and haloperidol 2 mg (Group HDO). We evaluated the intensity of nausea and pain using the verbal numeric scale, cumulative number of vomiting episodes, and morphine consumption in the period of 0-2, 2-12, 12-24, and 24-36 hours postoperatively. Results: Nausea intensity was lower in Group HDO compared to Group O (p = 0.001), pain intensity was lower in Group HDO compared to Group O (p = 0.046), and morphine consumption was lower in Group HDO compared to Group O (p = 0.037). There was no difference between groups regarding the number of vomiting episodes (p = 0.052). Conclusion: The combination of haloperidol, ondansetron, and dexamethasone reduced nausea and pain intensity and morphine consumption in postoperative obese patients undergoing LSG. Keywords: Antiemetics, Haloperidol, Dexamethasone, Ondansetron, Bariatric Surgery, Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting.