Objective To evaluate the effect of shortening the time of preoperative liquid fasting on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery using propensity score matching. Methods A total of 80 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery in Jiading District Central Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Medicine & Health Sciences from January 2017 to March 2018 were enrolled and their clinical data was retrospectively analyzed. According to the preoperative fasting mode, the patients were divided into two groups: a shortened liquid fasting group (group S, n=46) and a traditional group (group C, n=34). Group S was required to take 800 ml carbohydrate beverage at 8:00‒10:00 the night before operation and no more than 400 ml beverage was taken before 6:00 at the morning of surgery, while group C started fasting by 10:00 the night before surgery. More than 20 factors that might interfere with PONV, such as general information, PONV history, history of motion sickness, and history of smoking were collected. Their data was analyzed by propensity score matching, the samples of covariate equilibrium between groups were obtained, the new samples were used for PONV analysis. The incidence of PONV within 24 h was compared between the two groups before and after propensity score matching. Results Before the propensity score matching, group S showed decreases in pneumoperitoneum pressure (P<0.05) but increases in the proportion of antiemetic and analgesic drugs in ward, compared with group C (P<0.05). Through the propensity score matching, 24 patients in group S were successfully matched with 24 patients in group C and there was no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). Before the propensity score matching, the incidence of PONV was 32.6% for group S, and 32.3% for group C, without statistical difference (P>0.05). After the propensity score matching, the incidence of PONV was 37.5% for group S, and 29.2% for group C, without statistical difference (P>0.05). Conclusions The strategy of taking 800 ml carbohydrate beverage at 8:00‒10:00 the night before operation and no more than 400 ml beverage before 6:00 at the morning of surgery cannot reduce the incidence of laparoscopic surgery PONV.