More than 40 million inpatient surgical procedures are performed in the US every year. It is estimated that up to 80% of high risk surgical patients suffer from Post-Operative Nausea (PON) within the first 24 hours after surgery, and 50% of these same patients may continue to experience symptoms up to five days after leaving the hospital.

Despite the widespread use of anti-emetic drugs, PON remains a problem causing patient complications, longer hospital stays, decreased mobilization, increased morbidity, and patient dissatisfaction. This is especially true of nausea symptoms, since many of the commonly used medica-tions are reportedly better at stopping vomiting than they are at relieving nausea.

Traditional anti-emetics used to treat PON are costly, have significant side effects, carry the risk of drug-type reactions, and may not be very effective.