Amisulpride: A Review in Post-Operative Nausea and Vomiting

Declarations

Funding The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.

Authorship and Conflict of interest Connie Kang and Matt Shirley are salaried employees of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature, are responsible for the article content and declare no relevant conflicts of interest. All authors contributed to the review and are responsible for the article content.

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Additional information about this Adis Drug Review can be found here.

Abstract

Amisulpride intravenous (IV) injection (Barhemsys^®; hereafter referred to as IV amisulpride), a selective dopamine receptor antagonist, is approved in the USA as a single IV infusion for the prevention and treatment of post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in adults. Results from placebo-controlled phase III trials showed that IV amisulpride is efficacious both in the prevention of PONV (used either alone or in combination with an antiemetic of a different class) and in the treatment of PONV (irrespective of prior antiemetic prophylaxis status). When administered as a single IV infusion, amisulpride had a tolerability profile that was generally similar to that of placebo, with no significant safety concerns identified. Thus, IV amisulpride is a useful additional option in the prevention and treatment of PONV in adults, particularly for patients who have failed previous antiemetic prophylaxis and for whom effective treatment options may be limited.

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