[Treatment of nausea and vomiting induced by a 24-hour i.v. infusion of cisplatin].

Nine advanced gastric cancer patients were given 17 courses of cisplatin administrations by means of a 24-hour intravenous infusion at a dose of 100 mg/m2. For an anti-emetic, 40 mg of metoclopramide was administered 5 times at 6-hour intervals, along with a 500 mg hydrocortisone administration at the start of the cisplatin infusion. Despite this preventative treatment, nausea and/or vomiting occurred in over one-third of all the courses. Thus, to combat this nausea and/or vomiting, a combination of lorazepam (1.5 mg/day, divided into 3 p.o.), dexamethasone (20, 10 and 10 mg by i.v. at 3, 8, and 24 hours, respectively, after start of the cisplatin infusion), and a 60 mg intravenous administration of metoclopramide (5 times at 6-hour intervals) was given, and it was found that this new method (Method IV) prevented both nausea and vomiting.