Overnight Use of Electroacustimulation on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in the Outpatient Surgery Population
Overnight Use of Electroacustimulation on Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in the Outpatient Surgery Population
Postoperative nausea and vomiting after outpatient surgery are significant sources of patient
 dissatisfaction. The prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) should be equally
 as important as prevention of pain because both are large sources of patient dissatisfaction
 and can necessitate admission after routine outpatient procedures.

 None of the currently available pharmacological interventions are able to totally abolish
 PONV. The use of electroacustimulation is a useful adjunct in prevention of PONV, but has yet
 to be studied when the patient takes the device home with them after leaving an outpatient
 facility.
The goal of this project is to perform a pilot study to determine if sending patients home
 with the electroacustimulation device will decrease their PONV and subsequently increase
 their overall satisfaction.

 The primary outcome will be post-operative nausea and vomiting scores on a scale of 1-10
 based on surveys which will be performed at 30m, 60m, 120m, and 24h post-op.

 Secondary outcomes will be the amount of rescue nausea medications required by the patients,
 time to discharge, subjective pain assessment and the impact of their symptoms on the
 activities of daily living since being discharged from the surgery center based on survey,
 and amount of narcotic received.

 This project would also aim to reduce the amount of time patients spend in recovery
 post-operatively, reduce hospital admissions secondary to persistent nausea and vomiting, and
 educate students and trainees about alternative methods of treating and preventing
 postoperative nausea and vomiting.
Inclusion Criteria:

 • scheduled for outpatient surgery procedure under general anesthesia

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  pregnancy

 -  currently experiencing menstrual symptoms

 -  cardiac pacemaker

 -  previous experience with acupuncture therapy

 -  pharmacologic treatment for nausea or vomiting in the 24 hours prior to surgery