The patient is nauseated More Facts and Comments Nausea and vomiting are under the physiological control of the vomiting centre in the medulla. This, in turn, is under the influence of higher centres in the brain, the vestibular nuclei, the chemoreceptor trigger zone in the floor of the fourth ventricle and abdominal organs. Nausea and vomiting due to morphine therapy is not inevitable. It occurs in about one in three patients.
Tolerance develops to nausea and vomiting, which usually disappear after seven to ten days.
In hospice units anti-emetics are no longer given routinely with opioids. The nauseated patient will tolerate cool fizzy drinks better than tea, coffee or still drinks. Low-fat foods and savoury foods may be eaten when other, sweeter, foods are nauseating. Metoclopramide and domperidone act predominantly on the upper gastro-intestinal tract, promoting gastric emptying. They are therefore the drugs of choice for reflux and gastric stasis.