The Effect of Ondansetron and Metoclopramide in Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy

Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) are seen in 50-90% of pregnancies. Mild to moderate NVP in the first trimester of pregnancy in most patients can be cured by ensuring them. However, in severe cases medical therapy to reduce nausea and vomiting is inevitable. Ondansetron as a drug effective in reducing nausea and vomiting is one of the therapies for the treatment of NVP that recently has been proposed. This study compared the effectiveness of Ondansetron and Metoclopramide in the treatment of NVP In a clinical trial study 70 pregnant women with NVP were selected in Sahid Beheshti hospital in 2010 and randomly divided in 2 groups. The first group administered oral administration of Metoclopramide and the second group were treated by Ondansetron for 3 weeks. The daily frequency of nausea and vomiting and medication side effects were studied before starting the intervention and three days, a week, two weeks and three weeks after treatment in the two groups. Data analysis was done by χ2, Fisher exact test and Student t–test. The results showed that there was not a significant difference between groups on the trend of change of nausea during treatment (P = 0.27) but the number of vomiting in Ondansetron group was significantly lower than other group (P = 0.04). Ondansetron have more favorable effect in controlling NVP. If the patient accept and this drug is safe in pregnancy, it can be used to control NVP during pregnancy.