An investigation into the effect of gabapentin capsules on the reduction of nausea and vomiting after chemotherapy in cancerous patients under platinum-based treatment

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is a condition that occur in most patients. This study aimed to investigate the effect of gabapentin capsules on the reduction of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients admitted in the hematological ward for adult patients with platinum-based treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was a randomized clinical trial, which consisted of a control group and an experimental one. The study population consisted of 126 women and men with colonic and gastric cancer who were admitted to Ahwaz Shafa Hospital of adult hematology ward. Of these, 120 subjects were eligible to enter the study. Immediately after chemotherapy, gabapentin capsules were taken. Up to 72 hours later, nausea and vomiting were compared. Descriptive statistics was used to investigate the demographic characteristics. Paired t-test, independent t-test and ANOVA were used to compare the results. RESULTS: The results showed that most of the patients had gastric cancer in the experimental (70%) and control group (66.66%). The results also showed that chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in gabapentin recipient group was different from the placebo group. Accordingly, chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting in gabapentin group was lower than the placebo group. CONCLUSION: Post-operative nausea and vomiting is an unpleasant experience. Today, the patients find it worse than pain, and they believe it is hard to afford the cost of treatment. Gabapentin seems to be a good drug for reducing nausea and vomiting.