This study was conducted to compare the efficacy and the best time for administration of ondansetron and dexamethasone in controlling PONV. Methods This was a hospital based prospective study conducted among 120 patients who presented with elective surgeries to the Department of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Sri Aurobindo Medical College and Post Graduate Institute, Indore, over a period of one year from September 2015 to September 2016 after obtaining clearance from the institutional ethics committee and written informed consent from the study participants. Results The association between postoperative nausea and vomiting at 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, 5 hours, and 6 hours with groups was found to be highly significant. In comparison of mean VAS at 1 hour, 2 hour, 3 hour, 4 hour, 5 hour, and 6 hour was highly significant, whereas in Tukey pairwise comparisons was found significant except ondansetron before induction to dexamethasone before extubation, ondansetron before induction to dexamethasone before extubation, Ondansetron before extubation to dexamethasone before induction, ondansetron before induction to dexamethasone before extubation, ondansetron before extubation to dexamethasone before induction, ondansetron before induction to dexamethasone before extubation, ondansetron before extubation to dexamethasone before induction, Ondansetron before induction to dexamethasone before extubation, ondansetron before extubation to dexamethasone before induction, ondansetron before induction to dexamethasone before extubation, ondansetron before extubation to dexamethasone before induction was not significant. Conclusion Dexamethasone administration 20 minutes before induction proved to be the best drug for preventing PONV, especially during the first 6 hours postoperatively. |