Introduction: Cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS) is a potentially exhausting disorder and has an adverse impact on quality of life, but it is poorly recognized and is always misdiagnosed leading to a diagnostic delay of several years, especially in adults.
Patient concerns: We report a case of a 32-year-old woman with recurrent severe nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, and repeated visits to the emergency department or the outpatient department for 4 years. Each time she was diagnosed with gastroenteritis or gastritis, and recovered after supportive treatment including antiemetics, maintenance of water and electrolyte balance, and a proton pump inhibitor.
Diagnosis: Laboratory examinations, gastroenteroscopy, chest and abdominal computed tomography, and brain magnetic resonance imaging all failed to reveal abnormalities that would explain her symptoms. Based on typical symptoms and the exclusion of other diseases associated with repeated vomiting, the diagnosis was made as CVS.
Interventions: She was given orally amitriptyline, 50 mg per night, and olanzapine, 1.25 mg per night.
Outcomes: The treatment was effective in inducing remission, and symptoms did not recur after treatment. The treatment lasted for 2 months and stopped. Her symptoms did not recur over the 10-month follow up.
Conclusion: CVS is not rare in adults, but its diagnosis is usually delayed due to poor recognition of the condition. Clinician awareness of CVS should be enhanced to improve early diagnosis.Core tip: Cyclic vomiting syndrome has a tremendous impact on the quality of life, but it is poorly recognized and is always misdiagnosed leading to a diagnostic delay of several years, especially in adults. The article presented a case report of cyclic vomiting syndrome of adult; we hope the article will attribute to increased awareness of physician and reduce delayed diagnosis.