Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) remains a common complication of anesthesia. We tried to assess the amount patients were willing to pay for a hypothetical antiemetic that would completely prevent PONV.

Trained residents interviewed 86 patients, who were scheduled to undergo general anesthesia, and questionnaires were completed.

Patients were willing to pay a median of 30,000 won for an antiemetic that would completely prevent PONV. The amounts patients were willing to pay correlated with age, previous history of PONV, and patient income.

Patients assigned a value for avoidance of PONV. It is suggested that more efforts to prevent PONV would be helpful for the increase in patient satisfaction.