Introduction:

Ondansetron is a pharmacological agent frequently used for the symptomatic treatment of vomiting caused by gastroenteritis. However, it could mask more serious pathologies that require repeat consultations and hospitalization.

Objective:

To investigate whether the administration of ondansetron as a symptomatic treatment of vomiting in the pediatric emergency department (PED) delayed the diagnosis of serious pathologies.

Materials and methods:

This was an observational, descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional study. Patients who consulted at the PED, received treatment with ondansetron, and returned for consultation within 24 hours were eligible. Data were collected from the PED consultation database, the follow-up consultation request, and a telephone interview with parents. The variables were age, sex, origin, reason for the second consultation, and final diagnoses in the second consultation. The data were analyzed in SPSS using descriptive statistics.

Results:

During the study period, 2018 patients consulted for vomiting and received ondansetron. 212 were consulted again within 24 hours, with 205 patients meeting the inclusion criteria. There were 24.8% new diagnoses during the follow-up consultation, of which 35% required hospitalization. The diagnoses were fever without source 2.9%, pneumonia 2.4%, urinary tract infection 1%, suspected chikunguya 1.5%, mesenteric adenitis 0.5%, and surgical acute abdomen 0.5%.

Conclusion:

Diagnoses different from the first consultation were identified in patients who received ondansetron for symptomatic treatment of vomiting in pediatric emergencies, with 35% requiring hospitalization.

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