Evaluation of nausea and vomiting, adults

Last reviewed: 21 Oct 2024
Last updated: 16 Jul 2024

Summary

Differentials

Common

  • Gastritis
  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease
  • Peptic ulcer disease
  • Acute gastroenteritis
  • Food poisoning
  • Chronic postviral nausea and vomiting
  • Migraine
  • Motion sickness
  • Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo
  • Stroke (embolic/ischemic/hemorrhagic)
  • Hypercalcemia
  • Hypothyroidism
  • Gastric outlet obstruction
  • Small bowel obstruction
  • Colonic obstruction
  • Choledocholithiasis
  • Cholecystitis
  • Post-gastrointestinal surgery
  • Severe constipation
  • Irritable bowel syndrome
  • Cyclic vomiting syndrome
  • Gastric dysrhythmias
  • Gastroparesis
  • Bacterial peritonitis
  • Anorexia nervosa
  • Bulimia nervosa
  • Pregnancy
  • Drug-induced
  • Nephrolithiasis
  • Uremia
  • Idiopathic functional dyspepsia or postprandial distress syndrome
Full details

Uncommon

  • Acute coronary syndrome
  • Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome
  • Meniere disease
  • Acoustic neuroma
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Meningitis
  • Brain abscess
  • Complex partial seizures
  • Central nervous system tumors
  • Primary adrenal insufficiency (acute or chronic)
  • Hyperthyroidism
  • Hypopituitarism
  • Heat stroke
  • Acute pancreatitis
  • Bariatric surgery sequelae
  • Primary pseudo-obstruction
  • Secondary pseudo-obstruction
  • Abdominal abscess
  • Carcinomatous peritonitis
  • Stomach cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Renal cancer
  • Small cell lung cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Chronic mesenteric ischemia
  • Cannabinoid hyperemesis
  • Chronic nausea and vomiting after antibiotics or anesthetics
Full details

Contributors

Authors

Thomas L Abell, MD

Professor of Medicine

Arthur M. Schoen, MD, Chair in Gastroenterology

Gastrointestinal Motility Clinic

Louisville

KY

Disclosures

TLA receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Gastroparesis Clinical Research Consortium (GpCRC), and the NIH Gastric Dysrhythmias. He is an investigator for Cindome, Vanda, Neurogastrx, and Processa; a consultant for Nuvaira, Takeda, Medtronic, and Enterra Medical; a speaker for Takeda and Enterra Medical; a reviewer for UpToDate; the Gastric Electrical Stimulation editor for Neuromodulation, Wikistim; and the founder of ADEPT-GI which has intellectual property for autonomic/enteric and bioelectric diagnosis and therapies. TLA is an author of a number of references cited in this topic.

Prateek Mathur, MD

University of Louisville

Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Medicine

Louisville

KY

Disclosures

PM declares that he has no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

Professor Thomas L Abell and Dr Prateek Mathur would like to gratefully acknowledge Dr Kenneth L Koch, a previous contributor to this topic.

Disclosures

KLK is a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline and a shareholder in 3 CPM Company. He is an author of a number of references cited in this topic.

Peer reviewers

James Neuberger, BM, BCh

Consultant Physician

Liver Unit

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Birmingham

UK

Disclosures

JN declares that he has no competing interests.

Daniel Leffler, MD, MS

Instructor in Medicine

Harvard Medical School

Director of Clinical Research

The Celiac Center

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Boston

MA

Disclosures

DL declares that he has no competing interests.

Ned Snyder, MD, FACP

Professor of Medicine

Chief of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

University of Texas Medical Branch

Galveston

TX

Disclosures

NS declares that he has no competing interests.

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