Recovery from abdominal surgery is often slowed by a temporary paralysis of the intestines known as ileus, but in a recent phase II clinical trial, prucalopride--a drug that stimulates motility--cut the risk of ileus lasting for more than 5 days in half.
In 110 patients undergoing abdominal surgery, only 16.4% of patients taking prucalopride for up to 7 days after surgery experienced ileus, compared with 34.5% of patients taking a placebo.
"Additional studies are warranted to validate our findings and assess the effect of prucalopride in patients with established prolonged post-operative ileus," said Prof. Weiming Zhu, co-author of the Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics study.
Source: Wiley