Looking at Antiemetics for Paediatric Chemotherapy Recipients Methylprednisolone is as effective as chlorpromazine and causes less drowsiness . .. In a double-blind randomised study, 20 young chemotherapy patients (aged 2-22 years) with significant emesis received IV chlorpromazine 0.5 mgjkg (n = 10) or IV methylprednisolone 4 mgjkg (n = 10) 30 min before chemotherapy. A second injection was given after 6 hours if necessary. There was no significant difference between the groups in the duration of nausea and vomiting or in the number of episodes of vomiting. In chlorpromazine-treated patients, nausea lasted 8.2 hours and emesis 5.0 hours; in methylprednisolone-treated patients nausea lasted 10.9 hours and emesis 5.3 hours. Seven chlorpromazine recipients, but only 3 methylprednisolone recipients, had mild to marked sedation. The authors concluded that ' ... methylprednisolone appears to be an effective, nonsedative antiemetic drug and should be considered for use in children undergoing cancer chemotherapy'. Mehta P Gross S. Graham-Pole J. Gardner R. Journal of Pedlatncs 108. 774176, May 1986
... while nabilone is more effective than domperidone In a double-blind trial, 18 children (aged':::; 17 years) undergoing ~ 2 identical courses of emetogenic chemotherapy for a variety of malignant diseases were randomly assigned to nabilone 1-3 mgjday or domperidone 15-45 mgjday for the first cycle of chemotherapy and crossed over to the alternative for the second cycle. Compared with domperidone, the frequency of vomiting and severity of nausea were significantly lower in patients on nabilone. 12 patients stated their preference for nabilone while 1 preferred domperidone and 5 had no preference. Nabilone caused a greater number of side effects than domperidone but, apart from hallucinations which occurred in 1 patient, these were considered acceptable and in some cases beneficial. The authors concluded that nabilone appears to be an effective and acceptable antiemetic for children receiving chemotherapy. Dalzell AM Barllell H. Lllleyman JS Arch,ves of D,sease
0156-2703/86/0705-0007/0$01.00/0
© ADIS Press
In
Childhood. 61 502-505, May 1986
INPHARMA" 5 July 1986
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