Retrospective Study on the Incidence of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting and Hypotension During Orthognathic Surgery Using Propofol or Remimazolam.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of early (up to 2 h) and late (2-24 h) postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and hypotension in patients who underwent general anesthesia for orthognathic surgery using propofol or remimazolam along with remifentanil.

Methods: This retrospective chart review included healthy adult patients under the age of 60 who underwent orthognathic surgery using propofol (P group) or remimazolam (R group) from January 2021 to March 2022. Records were reviewed to gather PONV and intraoperative hypotension data as well as patient characteristics and other variables.

Results: Early PONV was significantly lower in the P group vs the R group (9.5% vs 34.1%, respectively; P = .002), although the difference in late PONV was insignificant (36.9% vs 51.2%, respectively; P = .13). A higher incidence of intraoperative hypotension was noted in the P group (22.6%) vs the R group (2.4%; P = .004); however, there were no differences in average intraoperative systolic blood pressure or vasopressor administration.

Conclusion: These results suggest that propofol is associated with a lower incidence of early PONV as compared to remimazolam; however, antiemetics are still recommended given the frequency of late PONV in both groups. Propofol also caused more episodes of intraoperative hypotension vs remimazolam, but the increase in transient hypotension is likely to be irrelevant during orthognathic surgery in healthy adults under the age of 60.