I did a literature search for both drugs. There is very little recently published research. It seems that pinaverium (Dicetel) has been around since the 1980s and mebeverine (Duspatal) since the 1960s.
A study done in 2000 compared the effectiveness of the two drugs for controlling pain in IBS-D women and found both were equally as effective in provide short term relief from moderate spasm pain. However, neither drug had an outstanding performance in relieving pain. The authors concluded "Their efficacy in the short-term treatment of IBS patients and colonic transit time is unclear."
It does not look like either drug is a wonder drug but they may be effective for some people when used as part of an over all treatment regime at least in the short term.
Reference Lu CL; Chen CY; Chang FY; Chang SS; Kang LJ; Lu RH; Lee SD (2000): "Effect of a calcium channel blocker and antispasmodic in diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome", J Gastroenterol Hepatol, Aug; Vol. 15 (8), pp. 925-30
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Re: Research question for Syl and other interested people
