Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV) Intensity Scale of Wengritsky et al: 6 Hour Score

 

Patient selection: postoperative patient with nausea and/or vomiting

 

Timing: at 6 hours after the surgical procedure OR at the time of discharge

 

Parameters:

(1) episodes of vomiting or dry-retching

(2) impact of feelings of nausea on activities of daily living (ADL)

(3) pattern of nausea

(4) duration of nausea in hours

Parameter	Finding	Points
vomiting or dry-retching	0	0
	1 or 2	2
	>= 3	50
interference with ADL	none	0
	sometimes	1
	often or most of time	2
	all of the time	25
pattern of nausea	varying	1
	constant	2

 

PONV intensity score =

= MAX(vomiting, feelings of nausea) * (points for pattern) * (duration in hours)

 

Interpretation:

• minimum score: 0

• maximum score: 600

• A score >= 50 indicates clinically significant PONV.

 

For late-onset PONV the score can be repeated at 24 and 72 hours. The exact calculation for the later scores is described in Figure 1 but somewhat ambiguous.