A protocol prevents nausea and vomiting in 90% of patients treated with chemotherapy in the Hospital Sant Joan.

-the presence of these adverse effects can lead to complications such as dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, or renal failure, having to postpone or suspend treatment

San Juan, April of 2013- University Hospital Sant Joan d ’ of Alicante boasts an antiemetic Protocol (that prevents and controls nausea and the) vomiting), that was developed jointly by Pharmacy and medical oncology services, which has been achieved that 89.8% of patients treated with chemotherapy in this Center experience nausea or vomiting, for which only 10% of them have this adverse effect.

The Protocol was carried out based on the observational study effectiveness of a protocol for the prevention of nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy consensus ”, one of the few studies on antiemesis in oncology that exist at the national level. It was carried out by both services and it included 167 patients treated with chemotherapy, tracking them 120 hours after the cycle.

This work, which has just been published in the journal of hospital pharmacy, showed that in patients who are in accordance with the Protocol Gets a suitable control of vomiting, especially in the acute phase, but also the problem is exceeded of nausea / delayed vomiting, which are the appeared between 24 and 120 hours of the administration of chemotherapy.

Precisely to address these issues has taken place recently in the Hospital a meeting on the secondary Emesis with chemotherapy. Multidisciplinary vision ”, in which participated the services of Pharmacy and medical oncology of the hospital Sant Joan and Marina Baixa in Villajoyosa. The aim was to share knowledge and work together to improve the treatment of patients with cancer.

Survival and quality of life of these patients have improved significantly in recent years, due to both the advances that have produced as chemotherapy support treatment and symptomatic. However, the nausea and vomiting are two of the adverse effects that remain more frequent chemotherapy-related. Approximately 60% of patients treated with chemotherapy in Spain experience this adverse effect. We can say that, without antiemetic treatment, the prevalence can reach 90% ”, says the Chief of medical oncology of Sant Joan, Nieves Díaz.

In addition, nausea and vomiting are among the adverse effects of chemotherapy to more anxiety cause in patients, having great impact on their quality of life and being able to go, sometimes forced to postpone, change or suspend an effective treatment, due to the appearance of complications. These may include dehydration, imbalance electrolytic and kidney failure, which may require the hospitalization of the patient.

According to the authors of this study, the poor control of emesis by chemotherapy can make the patient refuse to continue a treatment that could increase their survival, or even could be essential for your healing. Therefore, they point out that it is essential to choose the antiemetic guideline to use when you start a treatment against cancer, adapting it to the type of chemotherapy and the characteristics of each patient, in such a way that this adverse effect should be reduced to the maximum and the chemotherapy treatments can be completed successfully.

However, this control does not occur only at the beginning of the treatment, but is also before the administration of subsequent cycles necessary therapy antiemetic, which is preventive and individualized. When the patient comes to the second cycle, passes to consultation with the doctor, who has assessed whether it is able to receive it. Part of the information that is collected is relative to the incidence of nausea and vomiting and, depending on this, fits the antiemesis for the next cycle, so that if the patient has had these adverse effects will change you guideline to one with greater coverage, thus adjusting the preventive treatment to each patient’s needs ”, says Lola Camacho, responsible for the Oncology Pharmacy of Sant Joan’s pharmacy service.