Gastro-oesophageal reflux in paediatric patients: studies with alizapride.

A series of studies was carried out in infants and children suffering from gastro-oesophageal reflux to assess the therapeutic efficacy and tolerability of alizapride, a recently developed dopaminergic-receptor blocker. Investigational techniques such as manometry, pH monitoring, endoscopy and scintigraphy were used to evaluate a prokinetic activity of the drug and its effects on oesophageal and gastric motility when given by the intravenous and oral routes. Preliminary findings indicate that alizapride had a significant effect on lower oesophageal sphincter pressure and peristaltic wave amplitude, but the evidence for an effect on gastric motility was less clear. Long-term treatment with oral alizapride (usually in a dosage of 5 mg/kg/day) suggests that it produced marked symptomatic improvement and was very well tolerated in the majority of the patients studied. A double-blind controlled trial is now in progress to provide more objective evidence of the usefulness of alizapride in the management of digestive tract motor disorders in paediatric patients.