Cyclizine is a long-established, short-acting drug, registered for preventing motion sickness, post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) and 'vomiting of known cause'. The latter is not defined but may include pregnancy and patients receiving palliative care, historically accepted without large, controlled trials....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change for audiologists — this is a pharmacology review focused on anti-nausea drug mechanisms; implications for vestibular-related nausea management remain indirect and speculative.
Clarifying the pharmacology of cyclizine could eventually inform more rational prescribing for vestibular-disorder patients experiencing nausea and vomiting.
- 01Review examines histamine's role in triggering nausea and vomiting.
- 02Cyclizine is widely used for motion sickness and post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV), but its mechanism is poorly understood.
- 03Published in British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (BJCP).
- 04No new clinical or trial data are presented; conclusions are based on existing literature.
- 05Relevant to audiologists managing vestibular patients with significant nausea symptoms.
The pharmacology of cyclizine is uncertain despite its common clinical use for motion sickness and PONV.
opinionpartially supported- PMID
- 42733333
- DOI
- 10.1002/bcp.70807.
- Journal
- British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
- Publication type
- review
- Evidence level
- 5
- Population
- Not applicable — pharmacological literature review
- Intervention
- Cyclizine and histamine-mediated anti-nausea mechanisms
Primary outcomes
Characterisation of histamine-mediated nausea/vomiting pathways; Elucidation of cyclizine pharmacology