Cholelithiasis is the presence of one or more calculi (gallstones) in the gallbladder. Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder. Pain and nausea/vomiting are usual postoperative complications.

This research aimed to study the effect of position on nausea/vomiting and pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic gallbladder surgery and was designed as an experimental randomised controlled trial.

The study sample consists of 96 patients of a surgical ward in a public hospital which accepted to be part of the study. Patients where divided in two groups in the postoperative period and followed for 24 hours, one of the groups stayed in supine position and one of them in semi-fawler position. Study’s data was collected by ¨Volunteer Informed Consent Form¨, Introduction Form¨, ¨Anxiety Specific to Surgery Questionnaire¨ and ¨Nausea/vomiting and Pain Follow-up Form¨. Data was analized by descriptive statistics (mean, frequency, standard deviation), Data suitable to normal distribution was analized by using Student’s T test and for not suitable data Mann Whitney U test was used. The p-value< 0.05 was considered significant for confidence. Differences in pain rates, pain severity, use of analgesia and nausea/vomiting rates during postoperative follow-up periods was found no stastistically significant between two groups (p>0.05). The intensity of nausea in the supine position group was statistically significantly higher in the 0-12 hours postoperatively than in semi-fawler position group. The antiemetic use rate in the supine position group within 0-2 hours after surgery was found to be significantly higher than those in semi-fawler position group (p=0.001; p<0.01).

In conclusion, in patients undergoing laparoscopic gallbladder surgery, in order to reduce nauses/vomiting, analgesia usage rates and antiemetic usage rate semi-fawler position is recommended.

Keywords: Pain, nausea-vomiting, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, position

-Study made by Huriye Önder