A comparison of the action of otilonium bromide and pinaverium bromide: study conducted under clinical control.

We studied 40 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) which received in a simple-blind fashion otilonium and pinaverium bromide (15 days each drug). During each 15-day period we evaluated: number of pain episodes, intensity of pain, number of bowel movements, side effects. Otilonium bromide, (OB), compared with pinaverium bromide was able to significantly (p less than 0.05) reduce the number of pain attacks, whereas no significant differences were found between the 2 groups as regards the other parameters. The occurrence of side effects was similar in the two treatment courses. We can conclude that the two types of treatment were similarly useful in IBS, although OB seems more effective than pinaverium bromide.