Dexamethasone alone or in combination with ondansetron for the prevention of delayed nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy

Article Abstract:

Dexamethasone alone or combined with ondansetron can prevent nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients provided they begin taking the drugs within 24 hours after starting chemotherapy. This was the conclusion of researchers who randomly assigned 705 chemotherapy patients to take dexamethasone, dexamethasone plus ondansetron, or a placebo. The patients were assigned to a low-risk or a high-risk group depending on whether they had developed nausea and vomiting within 24 hours of chemotherapy. Dexamethasone alone or combined with ondansetron completely prevented nausea and vomiting in 90% of the low-risk patients but less than half of the high-risk patients.

---

Ondansetron plus metopimazine compared with ondansetron alone in patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy

Article Abstract:

Treatment combining ondansetron and metopimazine appears to be more effective than ondansetron alone in reducing nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy. Ondansetron effectively reduces acute chemotherapy-induced vomiting and nausea but is less effective in reducing delayed vomiting and nausea. Of 30 chemotherapy patients, 15 took ondansetron and placebo, and 15 took ondansetron and metopimazine. After three weeks, they switched treatments. Combination therapy significantly reduced the number of acute, delayed and overall incidences of vomiting and retching, especially the delayed incidences. Seven of the patients had severe nausea after receiving only ondansetron, but none of the patients experienced it after receiving combination therapy. Two-thirds preferred the combination therapy and 1/3 preferred treatment with ondansetron alone.

---

Ondansetron compared with dexamethasone and metoclopramide as antiemetics in the chemotherapy of breast cancer with cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil

Article Abstract:

Dexamethasone and metoclopramide appear to be as effective or slightly more effective than ondansetron in reducing vomiting and nausea associated with moderately emetogenic (causing vomiting) chemotherapy. Previous studies found ondansetron to be highly effective in reducing the nausea and vomiting in patients who took strongly emetogenic chemotherapy. Of 164 women with breast cancer who were about to receive moderately emetogenic chemotherapy, 84 took odansetron and 80 took dexamethasone and metoclopramide. Overall, about 66% of the women did not vomit in the seven days after chemotherapy. There were no significant differences between groups in the number of women who did not vomit. In the first day after chemotherapy, however, the women who took dexamethasone and metoclopramide experienced significantly less nausea than women who took ondansetron.

Metoclopramide

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Identification and functional importance of plasma kallikrein in the synovial fluids of patients with rheumatoid, psoriatic, and osteoarthritis
• Abstracts: Early pregnancy termination with mifepristone and misoprostol in the United States. Medical termination of pregnancy
• Abstracts: Renal dysfunction with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate-containing highly active antiretroviral therapy regimens is not observed more frequently
• Abstracts: Comparison of 8 vs 15 days of antibiotic therapy for ventilator-associated pneumonia in adults: a randomized trial
• Abstracts: Calcification of the Aortic Arch: Risk Factors and Association With Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, and Peripheral Vascular Disease

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.