The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7398 p497
29 April 2006

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Dehydrated children respond to ondansetron, study shows

Children with gastroenteritis and dehydration given ondansetron vomited less while being treated with oral rehydration therapy than those who were given placebo, a New England Journal of Medicine study has found (2006;354:1698).

Investigators randomised 215 children (meeting the criteria for gastroenteritis and mild to moderate dehydration) to receive orally disintegrating ondansetron or placebo, followed by protocol-led oral rehydration in a casualty department. Of the children in the ondansetron group, 14 per cent vomited while receiving oral rehydration therapy — the primary outcome — versus 35 per cent of those given placebo (P<0.001). Additionally, compared with placebo, children in the treatment arm were sick less frequently (mean number of episodes per child 0.18 versus 0.65; P<0.001), managed a greater intake of oral-rehydration fluid (239ml versus 196ml; P=0.001) and were less likely to need intravenous rehydration (14 per cent versus 31 per cent; P=0.003).

However, the authors found that the rate of hospital admission did not differ between the two groups, nor did the rate the children returned to the casualty department.