Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is a common complaint following surgery. Complications related to PONV can cause prolonged post anesthesia care unit (PACU) stays, unanticipated hospital admissions, surgical complications and psychological discomfort. A nursing PACU evidenced- based practice committee investigated the use of aromatherapy as a complimentary treatment for PONV. Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is currently being used by PACU nurses at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) as an aromatherapy treatment for PONV without the evidence to support its use. Aromatherapy is not part of the standard PONV guidelines. An evidenced-based review was conducted regarding the use of aromatherapy in PONV. The search produced meta-analyses and randomized control trials (RCT's).The Clin...

More...