Isopropyl alcohol inhalation as first-line treatment for nausea in the Dutch emergency department.

Nausea is one of the most common complaints of patients in the Emergency Department (ED). Conventional anti-emetics have not proved to be superior to placebo in treating nausea on the ED. Recent randomized clinical trials demonstrated that aromatherapy with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) provides quick relief of nausea compared to placebo and ondansetron. To our
knowledge, no research exists addressing the practical consequences of the use of IPA in the ED. Our objective is to investigate the practical implications of IPA aromatherapy as the first-line therapy for nausea in the ED

IPA as first-line therapy in the Emergency Department leads to:

- faster initiation of symptomatic treatment for nauseous patients

- more patients receiving symptomatic treatment for nausea

- a decrease in the use of conventional anti-emetics

- a decrease in cost of the symptomatic treatment of nauseous patients

End of implementation phase, expected in august 2018.

This is an implementation trail aiming to study the practical aspects of the IPA as first-line therapy. In the first phase the current treatment with conventional anti-emetics will be studied. In the second phase IPA inhalation will be implemented as first line therapy.

Finally, after the implementation of IPA inhalation, a questionnaire will be sent to the ED staff in order to capture the practical experience of the staff with the use of IPA inhalation.