At the National Cancer Center Hospital,serotonin (5-HT3) receptor antagonists are used in chemotherapy regimens including anticancer agents with a strong emetic action to prevent nausea and vomiting.With a view to standardizing usage,we conducted a survey to determine how 5-HT3 receptor antagonists were being used in our hospital.
It was found that the type of 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, diluent volume and infusion time varied among cancer therapy groups and among the 4 intraveneous 5-HT3 receptor antagonists available in our hospital,granisetron was the most frequently used,though the administration method varied with the regimen.
While the therapeutic goal of treatment with 5-HT3 receptor antagonists is to completely eliminate nausea and vomiting due to anticancer agents,they should be used as efficiently as possible and for this purpose it is important to standardize the volume of the diluent and intravenous infusion time.
