Evaluation of ethanol as an antiemetic in patients receiving cisplatin

Nausea and vomiting are common complications of cisplatin chemotherapy. Patients with a history of chronic, heavy alcohol intake experience less nausea and vomiting from cisplatin than do those who are not heavy drinkers. Four patients being treated with cisplatin who had not obtained satisfactory control of nausea and vomiting with high-dose metoclopramide were given intravenous ethanol to alleviate their symptoms. In each case, the control of nausea and vomiting was inferior to that previously achieved with metoclopramide. It is concluded that acute ethanol administration has no clinically significant antiemetic effect in patients receiving cisplatin.