Introduction:

Vomiting limits oral rehydration in dehydrated pediatric patients with acute gastroenteritis and increases the probability of being hospitalized.

Objective:

To analyze the impact on the hospitalization rate when an antiemetic is administered in children treated in a private emergency service.

Material and methods:

Analytical cross-sectional study. Patients younger than 18 years-old, who evaluated in the emergency department for acute gastroenteritis with the presence of vomits treated with and without antiemetic (ondansetron, dimenhydrinate or meclozine / pyridoxine) were included. Hospitalization rate for oral intolerance and dehydration was analyzed.

Results:

Of 500 patients, 273 (54.6%) received antiemetic. The main prescribed antiemetic was ondansetron (95%). Use of antiemetic reduced by 19.2% (95% CI 10.7 to 27.4 p <0.0001) the hospitalization rate (76.9% versus 51.2% without use). There were no differences in time spent in the emergency room. All patients were discharged with good hydration status.

Conclusions:

In this study, use of antiemetics for the control of vomiting in children with gastroenteritis was high; it is possible that the use of antiemetics helps rehydration.

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