Multiple-balloon kymographic recording of the comparative action of oral administration of atropine, tincture of belladonna and placebos on the motility of the upper small intestine in man.

Abstract

THERE is ample evidence in the literature that the belladonna alkaloids exert an antispasmodic effect on the motor activity of the gastrointestinal tract. It has been found that intestinal contractions decreased nearly 30 per cent after the administration of placebos.1 We have therefore attempted to determine how two of the commonly used belladonna alkaloids, atropine given orally and tincture of belladonna, compared in their action with the results of the placebo studies. The time of onset of action and the magnitude of the effect of these two drugs have been noted, as has, so far as possible, the duration of . . .