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Dexamethasone often is used to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting, but does its use predispose patients to surgical-site wound infections? In this international multicenter study, researchers randomized 9000 noncardiac surgical patients to 8 mg of intravenous dexamethasone or placebo after induction of general anesthesia and before surgical incision.
In the first 24 hours after surgery, nausea and vomiting occurred in 42% of patients in the dexamethasone group and in 54% of patients in the placebo group. At 30-day follow-up, the incidence of superficial, deep, or organ-space wound infections was similar in both groups. This also was true among the 13% of patients with diabetes.