Effectivity of oral ginger supplementation for chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in children: A systematic review of clinical trials

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) affects over 50% of pediatric patients undergoing chemotherapy, a higher proportion than in adults. CINV often occurs despite adequate antiemetic prophylaxis, hampering patients' willingness to continue the chemotherapy regimen. As an ayurvedic medicine, ginger (Zingiber officinale) has an antiemetic effect by inhibiting serotonin in gastrointestinal nerves and as an NK1 antagonist. Therefore, we aimed to review oral ginger supplementation in children with CINV systematically.

Systematic searching was performed in June 2023 from Pubmed, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane, and hand searching. The search consisted of PICO “children chemotherapy”, “ginger”, and “CINV incidence”. We limited the search to only human studies. Studies that meet inclusion and exclusion criteria were included for analysis.

Out of 116 studies found with our selection criteria, four were compatible with inclusion and exclusion criteria. Two studies had a small Risk of Bias (RoB), while the others had a high RoB. All studies statistically significantly reduced acute and delayed CINV with the number needed to treat (NNT) 2–4. No adverse effects were reported. However, these studies still had high heterogeneity based on cancer treatment, chemotherapy regimen, ginger dosing, and ginger processing.

Ginger has the potential to reduce both the acute and delayed phases of CINV in children. Additional research employing standardized methodologies is recommended to validate this effect.