Original Contribution Incidence and predictors of postdischarge nausea and vomiting in a 7-day population ☆ Jan Odom-Forren PhD, RN, CPAN, FAAN (Assistant Professor) a, ⁎ , Leena Jalota MD (Visiting Research Associate) a,b , Debra K. Moser DNSc, RN, FAAN (Professor and Gill Endowed Chair) a , Terry A. Lennie PhD, RN, FAAN (Professor and Associate Dean) a , Lynne A. Hall DrPH, RN (Professor and Associate Dean of Research) a , Joseph Holtman MD, PhD (Professor of Anesthesiology) c , Vallire Hooper PhD, RN, CPAN, FAAN (Assistant Professor and Assistant Director) d , Christian C. Apfel PhD, MD (Associate Professor of Anesthesia) b a College of Nursing, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA b Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 94143–0648; Resident Physician, Department of Internal Medicine, Reading Health System, West Reading PA 19611, USA c Department of Anesthesiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA d School of Nursing, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30901, USA Received 5 September 2012; revised 3 May 2013; accepted 11 May 2013 Keywords: Ambulatory surgery; Emesis control; Ondansetron; Outpatient anesthesia; Postdischarge nausea and vomiting Abstract Study Objective: 1) To quantify the incidence and severity of postdischarge nausea and vomiting (PDNV) for 7 days in adults undergoing outpatient surgeries with general anesthesia; 2) to evaluate whether a risk model previously developed for the first two postoperative days may be used to predict the patient’s risk of PDNV for 7 days; and 3) to verify whether the same risk factors are applicable in the 3 to 7 day period. Design: Prospective study. Setting: Two university-affiliated centers. Patients: 248 adult (N 18 years) surgical outpatients undergoing ambulatory surgical procedures with general anesthesia between 2007 and 2008. Measurements: The incidence and severity of PDNV and a simplified risk score for PDNV was assessed prospectively from discharge up to 7 postoperative days. Main Results: The overall incidence of nausea was 56.9% and of emesis was 19.4%. The incidence of PDNV was highest on the day of surgery (DOS), with PDNV of 44.8% and decreasing over time to 6.0% on day 7. Using the simplified risk score for PDNV the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve ☆ Supported by Dr. Christian Apfel’s Perioperative Research Core, University of California, San Francisco. ⁎ Correspondence: Jan Odom-Forren, PhD, RN, CPAN, FAAN, 535 CON, 760 Rose St., Lexington, KY 40536, USA. Tel.: +1 859 323 6292; fax: +1 857 323 1057. E-mail address: Jlforr2@uky.edu (J. Odom-Forren). 0952-8180/$ – see front matter © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinane.2013.05.008 Journal of Clinical Anesthesia (2013) 25, 551–559