• Son H McLaren, Ramy B Yim, and Eric W Fleegler.
• From the Department of Emergency Medicine, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY.
• Pediatr Emerg Care. 2021 Dec 1; 37 (12): e1087e1092e1087-e1092.

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to determine if providing ondansetron prescription to children with acute gastroenteritis seen in the emergency department (ED) is associated with reduced unscheduled ED revisits.MethodsThis was a retrospective comparative cohort study conducted in a tertiary urban pediatric ED. We evaluated otherwise healthy children 6 months to 18 years old who presented to the ED between 2010 and 2015 and were discharged home with acute gastroenteritis diagnosis. Illness severity was determined using dehydration score, emergency severity index, and presenting symptoms. The incidence of unscheduled 72-hour ED revisit among patients discharged home with ondansetron prescription was compared with those without a prescription.ResultsOf the 11,785 eligible patients, 35.5% (N = 4,187) of patients were discharged home with ondansetron prescription. After adjustment for emergency severity index, age, insurance source, race, time of index visit registration, intravenous fluid use, and ED-administered ondansetron, there were no differences in the rates of ED revisit (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.12 [0.92, 1.33]) or admission after ED revisit (aOR = 0.81 [0.51, 1.27]) among children with versus without ondansetron prescription. No difference was found in the proportion of alternative diagnoses among returning patients with versus without ondansetron prescription (aOR = 0.56 [0.20, 1.59]).ConclusionsThere was no association between ondansetron prescription and ED revisit among children seen in the ED with suspected acute gastroenteritis. In the appropriate setting, however, physicians may consider prescribing ondansetron for symptom control in conjunction with careful discharge instructions.Copyright © 2019 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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