Evaluation of intramuscular ceruletide for shortening small bowel transit time

Abstract

A double-blind crossover study in 31 normal volunteers showed that intramuscular injection of ceruletide (0.3 microgram/kg) significantly accelerated small bowel transit of barium when compared to placebo. The only adverse effect was frequent pain at the injection site. There was a significant degradation in the quality of small bowel coating and distension in only 10% of the volunteers. Despite these problems, intramuscular administration of ceruletide may become a useful method for decreasing the prolonged time required for most small bowel examinations.

Methods for the Assessment of Small-Bowel and Colonic Transit

“…The mean orocecal time was 178 minutes with a standard deviation of 93 minutes, and 10% of the healthy subjects had a transit time of more than 5 hours. In a smaller study of 48 healthy volunteers (6), a much larger volume of barium (between 450 and 650 mL) was administered, and the transit time was measured from barium entry into the proximal jejunum to the time that it reached the cecum (jejuno-cecal time). The median transit time was 45 minutes.…”