Epidural administration of droperidol suppresses cisplatin-induced emesis: preliminary findings

To evaluate the antiemetic effect of the epidural administration of droperidol on cisplatin-induced emesis, nine adult gastric cancer patients receiving intraoperative cisplatin chemotherapy were studied. After removal of the stomach, 0.05 mg/kg droperidol with 5 ml saline was injected into the epidural space through the epidural catheter. Thirty minutes later, 60 mg/m2 cisplatin was administered intravenously over 1h. Subsequently, the same dose of droperidol was also injected epidurally every 6 h for 18 h. Postoperatively, the antiemetic effect was evaluated until 30 h after the first epidural droperidol. As a result, all patients expressed almost complete antiemesis until 25 h. After 26 h, some patients complained of mild emesis. No potential side effects, such as hypotension, consciousness disturbance, and extrapyramidal signs, were noticed. Therefore, the present pilot study implies that a sole epidural administration of droperidol remarkably suppresses cisplatin-induced emesis.