Review article: tegaserod for chronic constipation

Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal conditions with limited effective treatment options. Tegaserod, a 5-HT4 receptor agonist has demonstrated efficacy in relieving constipation-related symptoms in patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome with constipation. This paper reviews two recent reports that have evaluated the efficacy and safety of tegaserod in pateints with chronic constipation. Two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials have been reported; one in Europe and Asia (E2301) the other in North and South America (E2302). After a 2-week baseline period, patients were randomized to treatment with tegaserod 2 mg b.d., tegaserod 6 mg b.d. or placebo for 12 weeks. Two thousand, six hundred and twelve patients were randomized, the majority were white females. In both studies, responder rates during weeks 1-4 were significantly greater in the tegaserod groups compared with placebo. A similar trend was seen over weeks 1-12. Statistically significant improvements over placebo were seen across the majority of secondary efficacy variables. Tegaserod was safe with no consistent differences in the frequency of adverse events among the various groups. In conclusion, treatment of chronic constipation with tegaserod was associated with significant improvement in bowel frequency as well as other constipation symptoms. Tegaserod was also well tolerated in this patient population.