What I learned from reading “The importance of sharing clinical information.”

“The importance of sharing clinical information: the case report of an adverse reaction” was written by Alexandra Cadete, Lara Sutil, Carine Silva and Joana Simões. Below, what I learned reading this text.

1. A doctor may employ a treatment even when there is no consensus on the safety and effectiveness of its use (not that it’s always a good thing)…
2. When applying antiemetic therapy, it is necessary to choose well which medicine to use, since the incidence of adverse reactions can reach 25% if the subject undergoing therapy is a child.
3. The extrapyramidal effect, which may be caused by metoclopramide, may be reversed with biperiden.
4. Metoclopramide can cause a dystonic crisis even without overdose.
5. If a child is vomiting and an antiemetic must be used, ondansetron or domperidone are better choices, but not metoclopramide.
6. Antiemetic therapy is used when a vomiting crisis begins to cause dehydration.
7. A dystonic crisis can occur up to two days after metoclopramide use.
8. Such reactions are characterized by abnormal postures, spasms and twisting movements.
9. This effect is more common in children and the elderly, but rare in young adults.
10. If these effects appear without the subject taking antidopaminergic medication, the patient may have tetanus or a disorder that causes seizure.
11. An extrapyramidal reaction may be reversed with anticholinergics or benzodiazepines.