BackgroundIntravenous fluid is recommended in international guidelines to improve patient post-operative symptoms, particularly nausea and vomiting. The optimum fluid regimen has not been established. This prospective, randomized, blinded study was designed to determine if administration of equivolumes of a colloid (hydroxyethyl starch 130/0.4) reduced post operative nausea and vomiting in healthy volunteers undergoing ambulatory gynecologic laparoscopy surgery compared to a crystalloid solution (Hartmann’s Solution).Methods120 patients were randomized to receive intravenous colloid (N = 60) or crystalloid (N = 60) intra-operatively. The volume of fluid administered was calculated at 1.5 ml.kg-1 per hour of fasting. Patients were interviewed to assess nausea, vomiting, anti-emetic use, dizziness, sore throat, headache and subjective general well being at 30 minutes and 2, 24 and 48 hours post operatively. Pulmonary function testing was performed on a subgroup.ResultsAt 2 hours the proportion of patients experiencing nausea (38.2 % vs 17.9%, P = 0.03) and the mean nausea score were increased in the colloid compared to crystalloid group respectively (1.49 ± 0.3 vs 0.68 ± 0.2, P = 0.028). The incidence of vomiting and anti-emetic usage was low and did not differ between the groups. Sore throat, dizziness, headache and general well being were not different between the groups. A comparable reduction on post-operative FVC and FEV-1 and PEFR was observed in both groups.ConclusionsIntra-operative administration of colloid increased the incidence of early postoperative nausea and has no advantage over crystalloid for symptom control after gynaecological laparoscopic surgery.

We report a case of May–Hegglin anomaly (MHA) in a woman who had a successful labor and delivery under epidural anesthesia. MHA is an inherited thrombocytopenia easily misdiagnosed as idiopathic (immune) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Early and appropriate diagnosis of MHA during pregnancy is essential for optimal maternal and neonatal delivery outcome. Additionally, it can avoid unnecessary diagnostic studies, such as bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, and even harmful therapies with corticosteroids, immunosuppressive agents, and splenectomy. Consequently, the most serious impacts of this disease are iatrogenic managements due to misdiagnosis. It seems that in patients with MHA, adequate clinical coagulation is far more dependent on adequate platelet function than any particular platelet count. The diagnosis of MHA may pose a challenge for clinicians managing pregnant women with thrombocytopenia.