Loading your page…
JEM Reports
By Sagar Nagpal and Chakradhar Reddy.
Gastroparesis exacerbations frequently lead to emergency department (ED) visits, yet no evidence-based pharmacologic standard exists for acute management. Haloperidol, a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist, is used off label in this setting.
We evaluated the efficacy and safety of haloperidol for ED management of gastroparesis.
Ward brings these articles into the same app as your cards and questions. One free account for Ward, Suture, Osler and Prognia.
PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, ClinicalTrials.gov , and Google Scholar were searched through May 2026 (PROSPERO: CRD420261416036). Eligible studies compared haloperidol with a control and reported gastroparesis-specific ED outcomes. Primary outcomes were hospital admission and ED length of stay. Secondary outcomes included reductions in pain and nausea scores, opioid utilization (morphine milligram equivalents [MME]), and adverse events.
Three studies comprising 97 gastroparesis-related encounters met eligibility criteria: one randomized controlled trial and two retrospective crossover studies. Haloperidol was consistently associated with lower hospital admission rates across all three studies (relative risk range 0.36–0.40; all P < 0.05). ED length of stay was consistently lower with haloperidol across all three studies but did not reach statistical significance. In the randomized trial, haloperidol significantly improved pain (mean difference −4.26; P ≤ 0.001) and nausea (mean difference −1.98; P ≤ 0.001) versus placebo. Both observational studies demonstrated reduced opioid utilization (morphine milligram equivalent reductions of 4.0 and 5.2 mg; both P < 0.01). No serious adverse events occurred among 79 haloperidol-treated encounters.
Haloperidol was associated with reduced hospital admissions, improved symptoms, and decreased opioid utilization, with no serious safety signals. These findings support consideration of haloperidol as adjunctive therapy and warrant prospective studies to define its role.
Published in JEM Reports. The abstract is shown as published and remains the work of its authors; read the full article at the source.
Prognia lists this article for reference and education. It is not medical advice. Always read the original and follow current guidelines and local protocols before acting on it.
