There have been several studies looking at how well ondansetron prevents nausea and vomiting due to several causes.
High-Risk Chemotherapy
One study looked at ondansetron for chemotherapy regimens that were very likely to cause nausea and vomiting. Of the people that took ondansetron, 66 percent had no vomiting and 56 percent had no nausea within the first day after chemotherapy. Vomiting was much more likely for people who did not take ondansetron; more than 90 percent of these people experienced vomiting. This study did not look at nausea or vomiting beyond the first day after chemotherapy.
Medium-Risk Chemotherapy
Ondansetron was also studied for chemotherapy regimens that had a medium risk for nausea and vomiting. This study looked at the likelihood of vomiting during the three days after chemotherapy. For the people who took ondansetron, 61 percent had no vomiting, compared to only 6 percent with no vomiting for those who did not take ondansetron. Another study showed that ondansetron continued to be effective for additional cycles of chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy and Children
Several studies have looked at using ondansetron to prevent vomiting in children age 4 to 18 years old receiving chemotherapy. These studies showed that ondansetron was just as effective in children as it was in adults.
Radiation
Several studies have looked at how well ondansetron prevents nausea and vomiting for people undergoing radiation treatments. In studies of people having total body irradiation and daily fractionated radiation, people who took ondansetron were less likely to have vomiting than people who did not take ondansetron. In a study of people having single high-dose fraction radiation, ondansetron worked better than another medication, metoclopramide (Reglan®), at preventing vomiting.
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