A comparison of retrospective versus contemporaneous nausea scores with patient-controlled analgesia

Abstract

In the search for an effective method of reducing the incidence of postoperative nausea, a standardised system of patient assessment is required. We examined 76 patients who had undergone elective total abdominal hysterectomy and were receiving patient-controlled analgesia, with morphine. Nausea scores were obtained using an 11-point rating score. Repeated contemporaneous assessments were compared with a single retrospective score made 5 days after surgery. Retrospective nausea scores were higher than those, recorded contemporaneously. Maximum contemporaneous score showed greater agreement with the retrospective score than did the median, mean, or maximum contemporaneous score. Collectively, these results suggest that patients tend to remember their episodes of nausea vividly, even if these episodes were punctuated by relatively nausea-free periods. The variability between the two sets of results suggests that contemporaneous and retrospective nausea scores should not be used interchangeably.