Tegaserod relieves global symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome

The selective serotonin-4 receptor antagonist tegaserod ['Zelmac', 'Zelnorm'] is effective in the treatment of constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to a meta-analysis of four phase III studies presented at the annual Digestive Disease Week (DDW) meeting [San Francisco, US; May 2002]. Tegaserod was shown to provide a significant improvement in global IBS symptoms, compared with placebo, and was generally well tolerated. Importantly, there was no conclusive evidence that the incidence of abdominal surgery, including cholecystectomy, was increased in tegaserod, compared with placebo, recipients.