You Can Keep Giving Kids Ondansetron

You're not doing any harm, and it probably helps a little bit.

Good news, you can keep basically doing what you’ve already been doing forever, despite any good evidence in support: giving ondansetron to kids with gastroenteritis.

It took awhile to accumulate good evidence a single dose of ondansetron in the emergency department was associated with reduced likelihood of IV fluid administration and hospitalization. Based on this, and the general expectation of similar effect at home, most emergency physicians have been prescribing ondansetron for families at discharge. Low-quality data has not been able to detect any meaningful benefit, however.

So, here’s some moderate-quality evidence: it’s okay – and probably helpful!

It’s hardly magical and most children improve, regardless. However, there is an incremental effect on symptoms and – of importance if you’re in a universal healthcare system – a small reduction in repeat healthcare visits. No adverse events or safety signals were detected, although there are only ~1,000 children in the trial.

So, carry on!