1986 Volume 28 Issue 3 Pages 569-575
Clinical use of glucagon (G) as a pretreatment in endoscopical examination of the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract in elderly patients with gastrointestinal complaints (GIC) and in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) was conducted. Butylscopolamine (B) was used for control study to evaluate the clinical efficacy of G. The results were as follows;1) Inhibitory effect of G on gastric peristaltic movement and gastric secretions was almost similar to that of B administration during endoscopical examination in eldery patients with GIC. The duration of pharmacologic action by G seemed to be a equal to that by B.2) The pretreament of endoscopical examination with G or B in patients with CRF seemed to show a lower efficacy compared to that in eldery patients with GIC.3) Thirst and tachycardia were more often observed in the pretreatment with B than with G in eldery patients with GIC (p <0.01 and p <0.001, respectively). On the other hand, no side effects were found in patients with CRF pretreated with G except for a transient and slight abdominal pain in one case. From these results thus obtained, it appeared reasonable to conclude that G in highly useful for the pretreatment of endoscopical examination of upper GI tract in both eldery patients with GIC and patients with CRF.
