Controlled study of the effects of tiropramide on biliary dyskinesia

A controlled trial was carried out in patients with biliary dyskinesia to compare the effects of the new calmodulin-independent and antispastic drug tiropramide with those of imecromone. Forty patients were randomly divided into two groups, one treated with 300 mg tiropramide per day and the other with 1200 mg imecromone per day, both treatments lasting for 3 months. The results showed that tiropramide was significantly more effective in decreasing the number of attacks of pain and in improving pain and dyspepsia symptoms than imecromone. In subjects with delayed filling of the gall bladder during cholecystography, tiropramide but not imecromone was able to normalize the condition. These results confirm the antispastic synchronizing effect of tiropramide on the motor activity of the gall bladder and the sphincter of Oddi and indicate that it should be the drug of choice for treatment of motor disorders of the biliary tract.