Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome: An Update Illustrated by a Case Report.

Objective: This article presents an update on cyclic vomiting syndrome, a potentially exhausting disorder that can occur in children, adolescents, and adults and and has a huge impact on the quality of life. A structured literature search was conducted to explore the current knowledge about antipsychotics in the treatment of cyclic vomiting syndrome. A case report is presented of a 15-year-old boy with refractory cyclic vomiting syndrome ( criteria), who finally responded to a unique combination of risperidone and amitriptyline.

Data Sources: A literature search of English articles was performed in November 2015 using PubMed and the Cochrane Library with , , , and as key words. All types of publications were included. The publication period covered a span from 1976 to 2014.

Study Selection And Data Extraction: In total, 13 articles were found. After screening the title and abstract, only 2 were selected.

Results: In the current literature, only the use of chlorpromazine in the treatment of cyclic vomiting syndrome is mentioned. The possible underlying working mechanism of chlorpromazine is not clarified.

Conclusions: Antipsychotics are hardly mentioned in the literature with regard to their antiemetic properties. Antipsychotics like risperidone, and its unique combination with amitriptyline, might be an important alternative to achieve a satisfactory treatment result in refractory cases of cyclic vomiting syndrome.