Cytostatic therapy-induced vomiting inhibited by domperidone. A double-blind cross-over study.

A cross-over double-blind trial was conducted in 14 patients (20 double-blind treatment courses) comparing domperidone and placebo in the treatment of vomiting due to intensive cytostatic treatment. Eight ml, containing 16 mg of domperidone or placebo was injected one hour before the start of cytostatic therapy. The efficacy of the drug was evaluated by the investigator and the duration of nausea and vomiting was registered in the majority of the patients. Domperidone was preferred to placebo 13 times, whereas the reverse preference occurred only twice. The duration of both nausea (a median of 11 hours against seven hours) and vomiting (a median of 7 1/2 hours against 6 hours) was shorter with domperidone than with the placebo.