[Rectal stenosis due to long-term therapy with ergotamine]

Two patients (a woman aged 39, a man aged 46 years) had developed severe distal rectal stenoses after 20 years of anti-migraine treatment with ergotamine-containing suppositories. The woman required several bougie and laser treatments. In the man a megacolon had developed due to increasing, finally complete, rectal stenosis and this required a double colostomy (transverse colon) as an emergency. Ergotamine-containing suppositories are widely used in the treatment of migraine, but they should not be administered for prolonged periods.