Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Meta Analysis Clinical Trial
Is low-dose haloperidol a useful antiemetic?: A meta-analysis of published and unpublished randomized trials.
The antiemetic efficacy of haloperidol was studied using data from 15 published (1962-1988) and 8 unpublished randomized trials; 1,397 adults received haloperidol, and 1,071 were controls. Settings were postoperative nausea or vomiting (1,994 patients), gastroenterology (261), chemotherapy (189), and radiation therapy (24). The relative benefit to prevent postoperative nausea or vomiting during 24 h with 0.5-4 mg haloperidol compared with placebo was 1.26-1.51 (number needed to treat, 3.2-5.1), without evidence of dose responsiveness; 0.25 mg was not antiemetic. ⋯ There were no reports on cardiac toxicity. Postoperatively and in gastroenterology, haloperidol is antiemetic, with minimal toxicity. For other clinical settings and for children, valid data are unavailable.