The Comparison of Midazolam and Diazepam on Incidence of Postoperative Nausea and vomiting

Abstract Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a common and unpleasant complication. Various drugs are used for prevention and treatment of PONV. Recently an antiemetic effect of Lorazepam has been reported, that it's usage as premedication can reduce PONV in children. As Benzodiazepines are safe drugs, their probable antiemetic effect may reduce the usage of other antiemetic drugs with psychologic and extrapyramidal side effects, and prevent poly pharmacy in anesthesia. This study is a clinical trial. In this randomized, placebo controlled study, the effects of Midazolam versus Diazepam or placebo on "PONV" were compared. We studied 75 patients undergoing surgical operations. They were randomly assigned in 3 groups. Patients in group 1, received 0.01mg/kg Midazolam i.v, patients in group 2, received 0.1mg/kg Diazepam i.v and patients in group 3, received 2ml Normal Saline i.v as premedication. The patients were observed for "PONV", 24 hours after operation. The incidence of PONV in the groups of Midazolam, Diazepam and placebo were 20%, 32%and 36% respectively. In the statistical analysis with fischer exact test no significant difference was observed between three groups (α=0.05). It was concluded that Diazepam and Midazolam neither have antiemetic effects nor different effects on "PONV".