Prochlorperazine as an Antiemetic in the Severely Retarded Child

Introduction  Emesis can be considered an almost universal symptom in pediatric practice, and an enumeration of its causes would encompass the whole field of medical practice. The mechanism of vomiting has not been satisfactorily explained. A vomiting center¹ has been postulated in the dorsolateral border of the reticular formation of the medulla oblongata. Closely associated are centers for inspiration-expiration, vasomotor control, salivary control, spasmodic respiration, vestibular control, and bulboexcitatory and inhibitory control. The vomiting center² receives stimuli from the floor of the fourth ventricle, the viscera, the diencephalon, and other forebrain structures.³ Emetic impulses may originate in the periphery or in the central receptor areas, the impulses passing through the vomiting center to the terminal pathway and exerting influence on the previously mentioned coordinating centers. Vomiting is, therefore, a patterned response of several centers coordinated through the vomiting center. The immediate cause of vomiting is frequently difficult