Abstract

Background: In the treatment of cancer with chemotherapy, the drug induced nausea and vomiting (NIV) is an important side effect and in severe conditions can hamper the therapy. In this study an attempt is made to understand the prescription pattern of the various antiemetic regimens and their efficacy in ameliorating both NIV and the quality of life. Methods: In the study 68 patients were initially included of which 60 completed all the proposed 6 cycles of chemotherapy. The extent of nausea and vomiting and the effect of the same on the quality of life of the patients were assessed using a questionnaire, which was filled at various time points (0, 6, 24 and 120 hrs) following the initiation of the chemotherapy. Results: Comparison of the mean of the various parameters showed that the mean age of the patients enrolled was 47.55 ± 9.893 with 73.3% being females and 26.78% being males. The most common type of cancer in this study was Ca breast (35%). Palonosetron was the most common antiemetic used (63.3%), followed by aprepitant, granisetron and ondansetron. Dexamethasone was prescribed to all patients. Patients who were on antiemetic regimens which didn’t include aprepitant complained of acute (75%) and delayed nausea (6%), as well as acute (45%) and delayed emesis (5%). Patients who received aprepitant had complete response (no nausea, no emesis) (100%). The quality of life parameters of patients was not affected significantly. Conclusion: The combinations of aprepitant + palonosetron + dexamethasone and aprepitant + dexamethasone were most commonly preferred and achieved reasonable effectiveness.

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