ANTIEMETIC EFFICACY OF DIAZEPAM IN THE PROPHYLAXIS OF ACUTE AND DELAYED EMESIS INDUCED BY CISPLATIN BASED CHEMOTHERAPY TREATED WITH STANDARD ANTIEMETICS

This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of diazepam in managing acute and delayed emesis induced by cisplatin-based chemotherapy. A total of 92 cancer patients who were receiving 60-75 mg/m² cisplatin based chemotherapy were treated with granisetron 3 mg/IV plus dexamethasone 16 mg/IV on the first day of the chemotherapy Forty three of these patients also treated with diazepam 5 mg/PO 10-12 and 1 hours before the chemotherapy and 42 of these patients did not received any diazepam prophylaxis. Categorical scales were utilised to document the incidence of vomiting, nausea and loss of appetite. Among the 85 evaluable patients there was no statistically significant difference between the treatment arms in terms of acute and delayed emesis. But more patients achieved acute complete control of vomiting (79% vs 64%) and defined their quality of life as very good and good (70% vs 52%) in the diazepam arm. The protection obtained at the first day significantly influenced the protection during the subsequent days irrespective of the treatment arms. Diazepam does not increase the efficacy of antiemetic treatment but the increase in the patients well being and complete control acute vomiting suggest that it could be added to the standard antiemetic protocols.

Keywords: Emesis, cisplatin, diazepam