Nausea and Vomiting (HB)
Nausea and vomiting is such a generic and common problem–it can be a symptom in conjunction with many other things.
It becomes a problem when the vomiting cannot be stopped, the airway cannot be controlled, or we cannot keep up with the nutrition and hydration challenge.
Red Flags
If vomiting is coupled with a fever and has been continuing for 24-hours or more, we consider it to be high-risk. Also if we have signs of volume shock and the patient cannot rehydrate they should be evacuated.
If there are associated abdominal pains, we should also consider the nausea and vomiting to be high-risk.
Treatment
Try and find the underlying cause of the nausea and associated vomiting. Benadryl can be used as an antiemetic.
Position the patient in the recovery position to help prevent aspiration of vomit–especially if the patient has altered mental status.