Article: For nausea at end of life, think mechanistically.(Geriatric Medicine)(haloperidol)

DALLAS -- Haloperidol is, perhaps surprisingly to many, the drug of choice for nausea and vomiting caused by stimulation of the chemoreceptor trigger zone--the No. 1 mechanism for nausea in patients nearing the end of life, Dr. Steven Pantilat said at the annual meeting of the Society of Hospital Medicine.

"Haloperidol is the most potent dopamine-2 antagonist at the chemoreceptor trigger zone. We don't think of it that way. We don't think of it for this purpose. But it actually is a terrific drug, and it's the one we use now as our first-line agent," said Dr. Pantilat, director of the palliative care program at the University of California, San Francisco.

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