Isopropyl Alcohol Inhalation as Anti-emetic Therapy in the Emergency Department

Nausea and vomiting is a common and distressing presenting complaint in Canadian emergency departments. Commonly used nausea medications have proven to be effective in certain patient populations, for example cancer patients. However, not one has been proven to be more effective that the other in the emergency department setting. In addition, many are associated with significant side effects and have the potential to interact with a patient's home medications. This limits their use in the emergency department until the patient is seen and assessed by their treating physician. Many studies have shown that nasal inhalation of alcohol swabs is an effective therapy in relieving nausea and vomiting in post-operative patients after surgeries. The goal of this study will be to determine the effectiveness of alcohol swabs in the emergency department setting in relieving nausea and vomiting.