Seki H, et al. - Researchers hypothesized that a combination of epidural and general anesthesia to minimize intraoperative opioid administration would attenuate the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) following laparoscopic gynecological surgery. To test this hypothesis, they compared patients randomly assigned to receive general anesthesia alone (group G) or general anesthesia with epidural anesthesia (group GE) while undergoing elective laparoscopic gynecological surgery. For intraoperative analgesia, fentanyl and remifentanil were administered to group G and single-shot ropivacaine at the time of induction of anesthesia to group GE. Findings revealed no attenuation of the 24-h incidence of PONV or rescue metoclopramide use after laparoscopic gynecological surgery as a result of minimizing intraoperative opioid administration by combining epidural and general anesthesia.