Rates and Severity of Postoperative and Post-discharge Nausea and Vomiting of Patients Receiving Sugammadex Versus Neostigmine and Glycopyrrolate for Neuromuscular Block Reversal in Patients Receiving Gastric Bypass Bariatric Surgery

There are many causes of post-operative nausea and vomiting in bariatric patients. These include (but are not limited to) the following: 1) mechanical manipulation of the stomach and bowel, 2) post-surgical inflammation of the tissue just operated on, 3) vagal stimulation of the viscera, 4) the administration of volatile anesthetics, 5) the administration of narcotics, 6) the underlying propensity of patient's for post-operative nausea and vomiting, based on prior history, gender, and other factors and 7) the administration of a cholinergic medication for muscle relaxant reversal. From previous work, it is known that alternate techniques are available to mitigate factors two through four, and patient screening has been available to help us determine the likelihood of patients becoming nauseous or vomiting postoperatively (factor #5). However, until the advent of sugammadex, there has been no alternative to factor 6. The use of sugammadex as a reversal agent could dramatically lower the incidence of PONV, while simultaneously providing an excellent level of reversal of neuromuscular blockade. There have been no published studies that have described laparoscopic gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy or duodenal switch procedures where complete prevention of PONV has been the result. A secondary objective will be the comparison of pulmonary function before and after surgery between the same two groups. In patients having gastric bypass surgery, not only does PONV aggressively aggravate the tissues which were just surgically manipulated, it also increases the likelihood of decreased ventilatory response, placing patients at risk for aspiration, atelectasis, pneumonia and respiratory failure.