Pharmacological manipulation of adynamic ileus: controlled randomized double-blind study of ceruletide on intestinal motor activity after elective abdominal surgery.

In a double-blind placebo-controlled trial of patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery (n = 91), a single intravenous infusion of ceruletide (2.5 ng kg-1 min-1 for 1 hour) resulted in audible bowel sounds in 42/47 patients as opposed to 30/44 receiving placebo (P less than 0.025). Excessive bowel sounds were noted in 16 patients in the ceruletide group and four receiving placebo (P less than 0.01). Significantly more patients (P less than 0.01) in the ceruletide group (22/45 versus 9/44) passed flatus per rectum between the second and third post-operative day. Ceruletide infusion was accompanied by a significant increase in the incidence of nausea and vomiting (P less than 0.005, P less than 0.0025) but these side effects were short-lived. These results indicate that ceruletide is likely to be a useful therapeutic agent for acute intestinal adynamic motility disorders.