Successful Treatment of Persistent Hiccups in an Advanced Palliative Cancer Patient with Gabapentin

Yara Hany Farahat

Alfaisal University, Saudi Arabia

Biography :

Yara Hany Farahat graduated with First Honors from Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and currently works as a Teaching Assistant at the same university. She holds full GMC registration with a license to practice in the UK, as well as a classification from the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties. Yara is planning to pursue specialty training in the UK in the near future.

Abstract :

Hiccups may appear to be a common normal phenomenon that does not warrant treatment in the general population. However, severe and persistent hiccups can become annoying and distressing and may decrease the quality of life, especially in cancer patients. The manage­ment of hiccups remains challenging. Despite trying many pharmacological and non-phar­macological methods, there is no clear evidence to support the management guidelines. In our case, we successfully treated persistent hiccups of more than four days duration in a pa­tient with acute myeloblastic leukemia with gabapentin.