[Individualized pharmaceutical consultations in the management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting].

Abstract

In order to prevent and control the chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), the military hospital Percy (Clamart, France) developed a systematic "CINV consultation". With 1.500 consultations conducted in 2013, the aim of this study was to confront professional practices and the patient's point of view to assess the efficiency of this procedure and consider a restructuring to optimize it. A preliminary study was conducted: 30 medical records of patients who had chemotherapy cure during 2013 have been analysed and 30 patients have completed an evaluation questionnaire anonymously. Patients were very satisfied (63%) or satisfied (37%) of these consultations. Most of them (71%) said the consultations were useful before every cure, while 27% thought that the consultation at first cure or when the chemotherapy protocol changed was enough. CINV consultations were estimated as complementary of the medical consultation for 93% of the patients. Most of the patients (70%) never had CINV or just at the first cure. Furthermore, the anti-emetic treatment was adapted to the new chemotherapy emetic level in only 53% of protocol changes. Patients have expressed a real interest in these CINV consultations and the benefits they could get from them. Moreover, patients' side effects are stabilized faster thanks to those pharmaceutical interviews. In fact, it seems that these consultations are mostly needed for the first cure (until patient stabilization) and when there is a chemotherapy protocol change.