Nausea and vomiting in people with cancer and other chronic diseases.

BACKGROUND

Nausea and vomiting occur in 40-70% of people with cancer, and are also common in other chronic conditions such as hepatitis C and inflammatory bowel disease. Nausea and vomiting become more common as disease progresses.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of treatments for nausea and vomiting occurring either as a result of the disease or its treatment, in adults with cancer? What are the effects of treatments for nausea and vomiting occurring either as a result of the disease or its treatment, in adults with chronic diseases other than cancer? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to April 2008 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

RESULTS

We found nine systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: 5HT(3) antagonists, antihistamines, antimuscarinics, atypical antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, butyrophenones, cannabinoids, corticosteroids, haloperidol, metoclopramide, NK1 antagonists, phenothiazines, prokinetics, 5HT(3) antagonists plus corticosteroids, and venting gastrostomy.