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Akathisia following low‐dose droperidol for antiemesis in day‐case patients
Author(s) -
Foster P. N.,
Stickle B. R.,
Laurence A. S.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
anaesthesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.839
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1365-2044
pISSN - 0003-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1996.tb07800.x
Subject(s) - droperidol , medicine , akathisia , anesthesia , antiemetic , fentanyl , propofol , psychomotor agitation , placebo , perphenazine , incidence (geometry) , nausea , antipsychotic , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychiatry , alternative medicine , physics , pathology , optics
Summary Akathisia has been described following the use of droperidol for antiemetic prophylaxis. In a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study, we investigated both the incidence of akathisia and its relationship to the dose of droperidol (0.5 or 1 mg). One hundred and twenty healthy women undergoing day‐case gynaecological surgery were anaesthetised with propofol, fentanyl, isoflurane and droperidol according to group. Patients were assessed by structured telephone interview at 24 h. There was an increasing incidence of both restlessness (p = 0.01) and unpleasant restlessness (p = 0.02) between the groups on Chi‐squared testing. Compared to the control group, those women given droperidol 1 mg suffered more restlessness (p = 0.001) and unpleasant restlessness (p < 0.01). No statistical difference could be demonstrated between the two droperidol groups. We conclude that droperidol may commonly cause akathisia and may not, therefore, be an appropriate prophylactic antiemetic for day‐case anaesthesia.