Comparison of Metoclopramide and Ibuprofen for the Treatment of Acute Mountain Sickness

Summary

The objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of metoclopramide in relieving the symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). It is our hypothesis that the combined antiemetic and analgesic effects of metoclopramide (which has been study-proven to be effective in relieving symptoms of migraine headache) will prove to be more efficacious in relieving symptoms of acute mountain sickness than the standard, previously-studied analgesic medication, ibuprofen.

Timeline

Start

2012-03-01

Primary completion

2017-03-01

Completion

2017-03-30

Publications

• Background Roach RC, Bartsch P, Hackett PH, Oelz O. The Lake Louise acute mountain sickness scoring system. Hypoxia and Molecular Medicine, J.R. Sutton, C. S. Huston, and G. Coates eds. Burlinton, VT, USA: Queen City Printers; 1993.
• Background Gilbert DL. The first documented report of mountain sickness: the China or Headache Mountain story. Respir Physiol. 1983 Jun;52(3):315-26. doi: 10.1016/0034-5687(83)90088-9.
• Background Gilbert DL. The first documented description of mountain sickness: the Andean or Pariacaca story. Respir Physiol. 1983 Jun;52(3):327-47. doi: 10.1016/0034-5687(83)90089-0.
• Background Hultgren HN. High Altitude Pulmonary Edema. High Altitude Medicine. Stanford, CA: Hultgren Publications; 1997.
• Background Montgomery AB, Mills J, Luce JM. Incidence of acute mountain sickness at intermediate altitude. JAMA. 1989 Feb 3;261(5):732-4.
• Background Maggiorini M, Buhler B, Walter M, Oelz O. Prevalence of acute mountain sickness in the Swiss Alps. BMJ. 1990 Oct 13;301(6756):853-5. doi: 10.1136/bmj.301.6756.853.
• Background Schneider M, Bernasch D, Weymann J, Holle R, Bartsch P. Acute mountain sickness: influence of susceptibility, preexposure, and ascent rate. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Dec;34(12):1886-91. doi: 10.1097/00005768-200212000-00005.
• Background Hackett PH, Roach RC. High-altitude illness. N Engl J Med. 2001 Jul 12;345(2):107-14. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200107123450206. No abstract available.
• Background Ellsworth AJ, Meyer EF, Larson EB. Acetazolamide or dexamethasone use versus placebo to prevent acute mountain sickness on Mount Rainier. West J Med. 1991 Mar;154(3):289-93.
• Background Zell SC, Goodman PH. Acetazolamide and dexamethasone in the prevention of acute mountain sickness. West J Med. 1988 May;148(5):541-5.
• Background Hackett PH, Rennie D, Levine HD. The incidence, importance, and prophylaxis of acute mountain sickness. Lancet. 1976 Nov 27;2(7996):1149-55. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)91677-9.
• Background Broome JR, Stoneham MD, Beeley JM, Milledge JS, Hughes AS. High altitude headache: treatment with ibuprofen. Aviat Space Environ Med. 1994 Jan;65(1):19-20.
• Background Gertsch JH, Lipman GS, Holck PS, Merritt A, Mulcahy A, Fisher RS, Basnyat B, Allison E, Hanzelka K, Hazan A, Meyers Z, Odegaard J, Pook B, Thompson M, Slomovic B, Wahlberg H, Wilshaw V, Weiss EA, Zafren K. Prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled comparison of acetazolamide versus ibuprofen for prophylaxis against high altitude headache: the Headache Evaluation at Altitude Trial (HEAT). Wilderness Environ Med. 2010 Sep;21(3):236-43. doi: 10.1016/j.wem.2010.06.009. Epub 2010 Jun 16.
• Background Harris NS, Wenzel RP, Thomas SH. High altitude headache: efficacy of acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen in a randomized, controlled trial. J Emerg Med. 2003 May;24(4):383-7. doi: 10.1016/s0736-4679(03)00034-9.
• Background Kirthi V, Derry S, Moore RA, McQuay HJ. Aspirin with or without an antiemetic for acute migraine headaches in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010 Apr 14;(4):CD008041. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008041.pub2.
• Background Griffith JD, Mycyk MB, Kyriacou DN. Metoclopramide versus hydromorphone for the emergency department treatment of migraine headache. J Pain. 2008 Jan;9(1):88-94. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2007.09.001. Epub 2007 Nov 5.
• Background Friedman BW, Corbo J, Lipton RB, Bijur PE, Esses D, Solorzano C, Gallagher EJ. A trial of metoclopramide vs sumatriptan for the emergency department treatment of migraines. Neurology. 2005 Feb 8;64(3):463-8. doi: 10.1212/01.WNL.0000150904.28131.DD.
• Background Colman I, Brown MD, Innes GD, Grafstein E, Roberts TE, Rowe BH. Parenteral metoclopramide for acute migraine: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2004 Dec 11;329(7479):1369-73. doi: 10.1136/bmj.38281.595718.7C. Epub 2004 Nov 18.
• Background The Lake Louise Consensus on the Definition and Quantification of Altitude Illness. In: Sutton J, Coates G, Houston C, eds. Hypoxia and Molecular Medicine. Burlington, VT: Queen City Printers; 1993.
• Background Kayser B, Aliverti A, Pellegrino R, Dellaca R, Quaranta M, Pompilio P, Miserocchi G, Cogo A. Comparison of a visual analogue scale and Lake Louise symptom scores for acute mountain sickness. High Alt Med Biol. 2010 Spring;11(1):69-72. doi: 10.1089/ham.2009.1046.

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Indications