Nausea antiemetic drugs

Ondansetron is the first 5-HT3-receptor antagonist to be used for the treatment of nausea and vomiting induced by cancer therapy. Its high receptor selectivity is reflected in clinical studies which show ondansetron to be a very effective antiemetic drug with few side-effects. 

Bemesetron is a synthetic ester of tropine and dichlorobenzoylic acid (Fig. 1). In contrast to TA introduced above, bemesetron primarily acts as a selective serotonin antagonist on the 5-HT3R in the CNS and GIT. Therefore, it was tested as an injectable antiemetic drug for cancer chemotherapy to treat vomiting and nausea but is not in clinical use [36, 37, 58],... 

Prevent postsurgical nausea and vomiting (antiemetic drug)... 

Atropine (0.4-0.6 mg intramuscular or intravenous) or other anticholinergic or antiemetic drugs may be used to control nausea and vomiting. 

Some Hj antagonists, notably dimenhydrinate and meclizine, often are of benefit in vestibular disturbances such as Meniere s disease and in other types of true vertigo. Only promethazine has usefulness in treating the nausea and vomiting subsequent to chemotherapy or radiation thercq y for malignancies however, other effective antiemetic drugs are available (see Chapter 37). 

Ondansetron is a chiral antiemetic drug used to prevent nausea and vomiting associated with use of antineoplastics. Although chiral assays have been developed for the drug [228,229], in our search we could not find any literature that described the pharmacokinetic properties of the enantiomers of the drug in humans. 

Antineoplastic drugs are potentially toxic and their administration is often associated with many serious adverse reactions. At times, some of these adverse effects are allowed because the only alternative is to stop treatment of the malignancy. A treatment plan is developed that will prevent, lessen, or treat most or all of the symptoms of a specific adverse reaction. An example of prevention is giving an antiemetic before administering an antineoplastic drug known to cause severe nausea and vomiting. An example of treatment of the symptoms of an adverse reaction is the administration of an antiemetic and intravenous (IV) fluids and electrolytes when severe vomiting occurs. 

---