Technical Report Abstracts

The introduction of ondansetron has revolutionised the treatment of nausea and vomiting which frequently follows cisplatin and other drugs used in the treatment of cancer. However, there remain some patients for whom this 5 HT3 antagonist offers only a partial alleviation of symptoms, particularly on the 3rd and 4th days of treatment. Even when there may be no vomiting, some patients still remain nauseated. We have demonstrated that stimulation of the P6 acupuncture point (Neiguan) enhances the antiemetic action of the older group of drugs such as metoclopramide, phenothiazines and cyclizine (Dundee et al., 1989b). This applies to both invasive (needling) and non-invasive (transcutaneous electrical) stimulation (Dundee et al., 1991). We here report a randomised crossover study in 16 hospitalised patients comparing the degree of sickness over a 5 day period when the chemotherapy was accompanied by ondansetron or by ondansetron and transcutaneous electrical stimulation of P6 (TCES).