A randomized comparison of ginger and dimenhydrinate in the treatment of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE To study the efficacy of ginger and dimenhydrinate in the treatment of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN Double blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Thammasat Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University. MATERIAL AND METHOD Between January 2005 and December 2005, 170 pregnant women who attended at antenatal clinic Thammasat University Hospital with the symptoms of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy were randomly allocated into group A (n = 85) and group B (n = 85). The patients in group A received one capsule of ginger twice daily (one capsule contained 0.5 gm of ginger powder) while the patients in group B received the identical capsule of 50 mg dimenhydrinate twice daily. The visual analogue nausea scores (VANS) and vomiting times were evaluated at day 0-7 of the treatment. RESULTS There was no significant difference in the visual analogue nausea scores (VANS) between group A and group B in day 1-7 of the treatment. The vomiting episodes of group A were greater than group B during the first and second day of the treatment with statistically significant difference. No difference in vomiting episodes during the day 3-7 of treatment was found in both groups. There was a statistically significant difference in the side effect of drowsiness after treatment in group B greater (77.64%) than group A (5.88%) (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION From the presented data, ginger is as effective as dimenhydrinate in the treatment of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and has fewer side effects.