Postoperative vomiting or retching (POV) can lead to rare but serious medical complications, such as wound dehiscence, bleeding, electrolyte imbalance, dehydration and pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents. Hence the present study was planned to find out the effect of prophylactic dexamethasone for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy under combined spinal epidural block. Influences of dexamethasone on patient satisfaction and postoperative analgesia were also observed as secondary objectives.