Effect of Pregnancy on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Female Patients Who Underwent Nondelivery Surgery: Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study

Pregnant women usually have several risk factors of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and physiologic changes that make them susceptible to PONV development. We investigated the risk of PONV and postoperative vomiting (PV) in pregnant women in nondelivery surgery compared to nonpregnant women. This study included female adult patients who underwent nondelivery surgery at five hospitals between January 2011 and March 2021. To identify the association between pregnancy and PONV, logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for covariates. A total of 60,656 (nonpregnant women = 57,363 and pregnant women = 3293) complete patient outcomes and perioperative data were eligible for analysis. Although there was no significant association between pregnancy and PONV, the risk of PV in the pregnant women was 3.9-fold higher (95% confidence interval (95% CI), 3.06-4.97) than in the nonpregnant women. In addition, increased pregnancy duration increased the risk of PV (odds ratio (95% CI), 1.05 (1.01-1.09)) and preoperative nausea, and vomiting increased the risk of PONV (odds ratio (95% CI), 2.68 (1.30-5.54)) and PV (odds ratio (95% CI), 4.52 (2.36-8.69)). Pregnancy increased the risk of PV in female patients who underwent nondelivery surgery, and pregnancy duration and preoperative nausea and vomiting also were associated with PONV or PV.

Automated summary

Pregnant women undergoing nondelivery surgery have a higher risk of postoperative vomiting compared to nonpregnant women. The risk of postoperative vomiting is influenced by the duration of pregnancy and preoperative nausea and vomiting.