The Effects of Capsaicin Ointment Application to the K‑K9 Acupressure Point on Nausea and Vomiting During Cesarean Section Under Spinal Anesthesia

Background: Nausea and vomiting are among the most important and the mostcommon intraoperative and postoperative complications. Objective: This studyaimed to determine the effects of capsaicin ointment application to the K‑K9acupressure point on intraoperative and postoperative nausea and vomitingassociated with cesarean section (CS) under spinal anesthesia. Methods: Thisdouble‑blind three‑group randomized controlled trial was conducted on 120women who referred to Ommolbanin Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, to undergononemergency CS under spinal anesthesia. Women were randomly allocated tothree groups to receive capsaicin ointment on the K‑K9 point (intervention group),capsaicin ointment on the K‑D2 point (control group), and Vaseline ointment onthe K‑K9 point (placebo group). Nausea, vomiting, and retching were assessed atfive time points, namely during and 30, 60, 90, and 120 min after CS. Moreover,the need for antiemetic medications was also assessed in all three groups. The datawere analyzed through running the one‑way analysis of variance, the Kruskal–Wallis, the Friedman, and the Chi‑square tests. Results: There were no significantdifferences among the groups, respecting the scores of nausea, vomiting, andretching at different measurement time points (P 0.05). However, the numberof women who needed antiemetic medication in the intervention group (11) wassignificantly less than the control (22) and the placebo (15) groups (P = 0.04).Conclusion: Capsaicin ointment application to the K‑K9 acupressure point is aneasy‑to‑use noninvasive method for significantly reducing the need for antiemeticmedications during and after CS under spinal anesthesia.