Penehyclidine mitigates postoperative nausea and vomiting and intraoperative oculocardiac reflex in patients undergoing strabismus surgery: a prospective, randomized, double-blind comparison

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of the most frequent complications following strabismus surgery. Penehyclidine, an anticholinergic agent, is widely used as premedication. This study investigated the effect of preoperative penehyclidine on PONV in patients undergoing strabismus surgery. In this prospective, randomized, double-blind study, patients scheduled for strabismus surgery under general anesthesia were randomly assigned to either penehyclidine (n = 114) or normal saline (n = 104) group. Penehyclidine was administrated immediately after anesthesia induction, and normal saline was substituted as control. PONV was investigated from 0 to 48 h after surgery. Intraoperative oculocardiac reflex (OCR) was also recorded. Compared with normal saline, penehyclidine significantly reduced PONV incidence (30.7% vs. 54.8%, P