Efficacy and safety of prucalopride in the treatment of chronic constipation

Abstract

Background: Chronic constipation is a common condition that significantly impacts health care utilization, productivity, and quality of life. Laxatives are commonly used, although often insufficient in restoring normal bowel function or providing adequate relief. There remains a significant need for the development of novel agents to optimize treatment of this condition. Prucalopride, a selective, high-affinity 5-hydroxytryptamine 4 receptor agonist, stimulates gastrointestinal and colonic motility and alleviates common symptoms of chronic constipation. Here authors are evaluating efficacy and safety study of this drug in chronic constipation patient.Methods: This is a prospective observational study where chronic constipation patient treated with prucalopride 2 mg daily once were enrolled during 6 month period. Data at one week and four weeks were observed along with adverse effects. Efficacy assessed by the number of Spontaneous Complete Bowel Movements (SCBMs) per week recorded by patient diaries. Patients were defined as responders when they had a mean of three or more SCBMs per week over the whole treatment period. The primary efficacy end point was proportion of responders after 1 week and after 4 weeks of treatment.Results: A total of 43 patients diagnosed with chronic constipation and treated with prucalopride were included in study. The proportions of patients in the present study with at least three SCBMs per week (responders) were 44.2% (19 out of 43 patients) at 1 week and 46.5% (20 out of 43 patients) at 4 weeks. Treatment was well tolerated with minimal side effects. Common adverse effects reported in our study were gastrointestinal disorders like diarrhea, nausea and abdominal pain and nervous system disorders like headache and dizziness.Conclusions: Prucalopride is effective, has a good safety profile, and is well tolerated in chronic constipation treatment.

Efficacy and safety analysis of prucalopride in refractory chronic constipation cases in a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India: A randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled study

“…[ 14 22 23 ] Our study had 68% of patients in the ≤65 years age group, which was similar to a study done by Kanaki et al . [ 24 ]…”

“…Adverse events recorded were mostly GI symptoms, mild to moderate in severity within the known pharmacological side effect profile of our study drug. [ 12 14 22 24 ] Headache and diarrhea were mostly reported from the Prucalopride arm with the incidence of nausea, flatulence, and bloating side effects being equal in both groups. Diarrhea was mild, transient, and self-limiting owing to prucalopride's mechanism of action.…”

Original article of prevalence, risk factors and clinical characteristics of constipation in Chinese patients with schizophrenia

“…The most common symptoms of constipation are abdominal pain, hard stool, etc. at the same time, patients will feel anorectal obstruction, and also often have the feeling of incomplete emptying after defecation, and even need manual operation [1][2] . It has been reported that constipation not only causes troubles in patients' daily life, but also affects patients' emotional health, and then induces a variety of physical diseases [3] .…”