Abstract
Ire assessing his or her own alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine consumption, and the Occurrence of postoperative side effects. A highly significant difference was found between the caffeine consumption of patients with and without preoperative (P = 0.0035) and postoperative (P<0.0001) headache. Logistic regression analysis of trend between headache and caffeine consumption suggested that with each 100-mg increase in caffeine consumption, there was a 12% increase in the odds of headache developing in the immediate preoperative period (P<0.0066) and a 16% increase in the odds of postoperative headache developing (P<0.0001). No relationship was found between headache and the patients' age, sex, usual frequency of headache, consumption of alcohol or nicotine, or the anesthetic agents or adjuvants used. It is concluded that postoperative headache is related to caffeine intake and that this relationship is explained at least in part, by a Perioperative caffeine withdrawal syndrome. Address correspondence to Dr. Galletly, Department of Anaesthesia, Wellington School of Medicine, Wellington, New Zealand. Received from the Department of Anaesthesia, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London, England; University Section of Anaesthesia, Wellington School of Medicine, Wellington, New Zealand. Accepted for publication November 15, 1990. © 1991 International Anesthesia Research Society...