combination of erythromycin and propranolol for treatment of childhood cyclic vomiting syndrome: a novel regimen

abstract: background : cyclic vomiting syndrome(cvs) is a disorder with dysmotility component and erythromycin is  a an antibiotic with prokinetic effect. this study aimed to evaluate the erythromycin efficacy in childhood cyclic vomiting syndrome methods : in this prospective study, 301 patients with final diagnosis of cvs enrolled in two separated groups. the first group received erythromycin for 7 days and propranolol for at least 9 months(n=155) and the second group was  treated with propranolol alone for at least 9 months(n=146). these two groups were compared for response to treatment and recurrence of symptoms after treatment completion. relationship of response, recurrence, and characteristics of the disease was assessed. results : the two groups showed a significant difference in terms of response to treatment ( p=0.002) but the recurrence after treatment completion had no considerable difference(p=0.563). there was no relationship between cvs characteristics and these two items (response and recurrence). conclusion : in our point of view, the addition of erythromycin to standard propranolol treatment can improve the response to treatment although it has no significant effect on recurrence of cvs symptoms. we suggest the use of erythromycin for 7 days in addition to cvs standard therapy. keywords : erythromycin, propranolol, cyclic vomiting syndrome, therapy