I work in a busy pacu in Owen Sound and would be interested in finding out about standards of care regarding the administration of antiemetics in the PACU. In particular, is there a delay in transporting a patient to floor or to Day Surgery for further recovery, after the administration of antiemetics, when all other parameters are OK?
Thanking you in advance,
Sheilah
Owen Sound
About Me
- OPANA Ontario Perianesthesia Nurses Association
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- OPANA is a nursing association dedicated to the improvement of perianesthesia nursing standards.
2 comments:
From my many years in PACU, I have never witnessed nor heard of an adverse reaction to an antiemetic (gravol, stemetil, etc.) Ondansetron can cause hypotension or headache, but it is immediate, and notused in all PACUs. It is more effective in oncology cases. Kytril (Granisetron) is used in some PACUs with fewer side effects. Some PACU's consider this rationale for keeping patients a little longer (30 minutes is more than enough to observe the side effects); the adverse effects occur almost immediately). Only with the 1st dose of antiemetic is extending the observation usually warrented
We don’t have a defined period between administration of anti-emetics and transfer. It’s a subjective assessment, based on the patient’s description of extent of nausea.
When the patient has refractory nausea, and we use multi meds, we usually are not aggressive in transporting them out of PACU. Anesthesia is doing a great job of pre-empting PONV in the majority of our patients, especially if the patient reports PONV in pre-op assessment. Most receive Zofran, and Decadron intra-operatively. Maxeran and Propofol are also used.
Daphne,
St. Johns, NF
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