A note on Isopropyl alcohol inhalation in Post operative Nausea Vomitting (PONV)

Isopropyl alcohol has been tried as an aroma-therapy in PONV. Couple of inhalations from a standard alcohol (70%) wipe has been said to be effective. There are few studies done in this regard leaning that isopropyl alcohol may be therapeutically equivalent, less costly and an useful trick in ICU.

References

1. Langevin RB, Brown MM. A simple, innocuous, and inexpensive treatment for postoperative nausea and vomiting. Anesth Analg. 1997; 84:A16.

2. Merritt BA, Okyere CO, Jasinski DM. Isopropyl alcohol inhalation: alternative treatment of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Nurs Res. 2002; 51:125-8.

3.Winston AW, Rinehart RS, Riley GP et al. Comparison of inhaled isopropyl alcohol and intravenous ondansetron for treatment of postoperative nausea. AANA J. 2003; 71(2):127-32.

4. Wang SM, Hofstadter MB, Kain ZN. An alternative method to alleviate postoperative nausea and vomiting in children. J Clin Anesth. 1999; 11:231-4.