title: Efficacy of intravenous ondansetron to prevent vomiting episodes in acute gastroenteritis: a randomized, double blind, and controlled trial.
abstract: Acute gastroenteritis is one of the most common infectious diseases of childhood. Its symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration. In the emergency ward, intravenous rather than oral rehydration is usually preferred because of the high likelihood of emesis. Treatments to reduce emesis are of value in improving the rehydration procedure. Our study is a double-blind randomized trial and proposes the use of ondansetron as an antiemetic drug to treat children with acute gas-troenteritis. Seventy-four in-patients, aged 3 months to 15 years, were enrolled and randomly assigned to an ondansetron or placebo group. Inclusion criteria were the diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis and the absence of other diseases or allergies to drugs. A single bolus (0.15 mg/kg) of ondansetron was injected intravenously; normal 0.9% saline solution was used as a placebo. This treatment induced vomiting cessation in the ondansetron group significantly in comparison to the placebo group. The length of the hospital stay and the oral rehydration fluid volume were similar in the two groups and no adverse effects were noticed. Thus, safety, low cost, and overall benefit of ondansetron treatment suggests that this drug can be administered successfully to children with acute gastroenteritis.
authors: Department of Paediatrics and.
authors: Sanguansak
authors: S
authors: Rerksuppaphol
authors: Lakkana
authors: L
authors: Rerksuppaphol
references: Am Fam Physician. 1999 Dec;60(9):2555-63, 2565-6
references: 10605991
references: Pediatrics. 2002 Apr;109(4):e62
references: 11927735
references: Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 1997 Feb;11(1):185-91
references: 9042992
references: Paediatr Drugs. 2001;3(6):441-79
references: 11437189
references: Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2002 Nov-Dec;41(9):641-52
references: 12462313
references: Pediatrics. 1994 May;93(5):708-11
references: 8165066
references: N Engl J Med. 2006 Apr 20;354(16):1698-705
references: 16625009
references: Pediatrics. 2002 Feb;109(2):259-61
references: 11826204