Effect of cricoid pressure on the incidence of nausea and vomiting in the immediate postoperative period

This study aimed to evaluate whether the application of cricoid pressure at the time of induction of anaesthesia was associated with a lesser incidence of postoperative nausea or vomiting in the immediate postoperative period compared with a group in which no cricoid pressure was applied, in patients undergoing day care gynaecological laparoscopy. One hundred ASA I and II females were randomly allocated to receive cricoid pressure at the time of induction. The peri-operative anaesthetic technique was standardised. The incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting in the group who received cricoid pressure was 16% in the recovery room compared with 26% in the no cricoid group. When the period was extended to the first 6 h post anaesthesia the incidence was 30% in the cricoid and 44% in the no cricoid group. This difference did not achieve statistical significance in either period (p > 0.05). The results suggest that application of cricoid pressure at the time of induction does not significantly alter the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting in the first 6 h of recovery from anaesthesia.