Placebo-controlled trial of cisapride in postoperative ileus

The effect of 4 mg of the gastrointestinal motility enhancing agent cisapride on postoperative ileus was compared with that of a placebo in 53 patients who had undergone various types of surgery. They received one i.v. injection of the double-blind medication, or two if no distinct flatus occurred within an hour after the first injection. The placebo response was very limited; borborygmi or flatus did not occur in more than 12% of the patients not even after the second injection. Cisapride was significantly effective: bowel sounds were present in 43% and 50% within 1 hour after the first and second injection of 4 mg, respectively, and flatus in 36% and 43%. The recognition that colon inactivity probably is the major determinant of the ileus, may be indicative of a substantial relative impact of cisapride's stimulating effects on colon motility.