Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The effects of tegaserod on rectal sensitivity to distension were measured by the nociceptive flexion RIII reflex, as evidenced by spinal hyperexcitability i. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel study was performed in 30 women with IBS-C. Pressureβvolume and sensationβvolume relationships were measured during distension, and patients reported their IBS symptoms daily.
No significant changes in the volumeβsensation relationship or differences in compliance were observed with tegaserod or placebo. We therefore developed a reflexological technique based on the modulation of a somatic nociceptive cutaneomuscular flexion reflex RIII reflex during gut distension as a possible tool for objective assessment of visceral sensitivity in humans. The RIII reflex is a polysynaptic spinal reflex elicited by electrical stimulation of a cutaneous sensory nerve usually the sural nerve at the ankle that can be recorded from a flexor muscle on the ipsilateral limb usually the biceps femoris.
We also showed that this electrophysiological approach is of value for investigating the mechanisms of action of pharmacological agents. The efficacy of tegaserod, a 5-HT 4 receptor agonist, in the treatment of IBS with constipation IBS-C in women has been confirmed in several large randomized controlled trials. Here we report a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, evaluating the effects of tegaserod on modulation of the RIII reflex induced by rectal distension in women with IBS-C.
Following approval from the local Ethics Committee, the study was conducted from 11 July to 29 October and included 32 women, aged 18 to 60 years, who provided written informed consent. Each patient underwent a complete clinical evaluation to exclude organic disease. Women were excluded if they had undergone abdominal surgery other than appendectomy, and only women with a normal total colonoscopy within the previous 5 years were included in the study. Analgesics, antispasmodics, laxatives and antidiarrhoeal agents were stopped at least 7 days before the start of the experimental protocol.
The sural nerve was electrically stimulated at a frequency of 0. Each electrical stimulation consisted of a train of five constant-current pulses of 1-ms duration. Electromyographic responses were recorded from the ipsilateral biceps femoris via a pair of surface electrodes placed 2 cm apart on degreased skin over the muscle.
