Does First Oral Intake After Emergence Predict the Incidence of Post-operative Vomiting in Children?

Second only to pain, nausea and vomiting are the most uncomfortable complications of surgery
and anesthesia. Unfortunately, our best defense against post-operative nausea and vomiting,
a medicine called ondansetron (Zofran), is in dire national shortage. Consequently,
non-pharmacological methods of prevention and treatment for post-operative nausea and
vomiting have increased import. Following emergence from general anesthesia, children often
request food and drink. There have been no studies to date that definitively determine the
optimal first food or drink choice for these children. This study proposes to randomize
children to either water or juice first intake following surgery. The investigators expect
to find that children who consume glucose are less likely to vomit than those who first
receive water.