The Role of Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting in Children with Cancer

Nausea and vomiting are among the most important side-effects associated with chemotherapy in children with cancer, affecting the quality of their lives. Clinical guidelines for selecting antiemetics are effective in reducing acute chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV).

The present quasi-experimental study compared the effectiveness of the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario (POGO) CINV guideline with that of conventional arbitrary therapies for CINV in 82 children aged 6 months to 16 years old. Out of 177 cycles of chemotherapy, in 101 cycles patients were treated according to POGO-CINV Guideline; in the other 76 cycles, patients were treated with arbitrary types and doses of antiemetics. Then, vomiting in the first 24 hours after chemotherapy in both groups was measured and compared.

In this study, 82 patients hospitalized in the Hematology Department of Dr. Sheikh Children’s Hospital were enrolled, of whom 48 patients (58.7%) were boys and 34 (41.3%) were girls. The mean age of patients was 6.24±4.47 years (6 months to 16 years). The results of the current study showed that using a protocol for the prevention of vomiting based on the patient’s age and the type of chemotherapy is superior to conventional management of CINV. Findings showed that the frequency of nausea and vomiting in the protocol group was significantly reduced in comparison with the control group (p˂0.005). Moreover, a reduction in the frequency of nausea and vomiting was quite significant in the sub-categories of the protocol group who had received high-risk or moderate-risk emetogenic drugs (p˂0.005).

The results of the current study showed that using the POGO guideline, which takes into account the patient’s age and the type of chemotherapy, is more effective than arbitrary management of CINV, particularly in children.