SCLEROSING PERITONITIS, AN UNUSUAL REACTION TO A β-ADRENERGIC-BLOCKING DRUG (PRACTOLOL)

Peritoneal disease, apart from the post-operative variety, is rare, but three female patients, who presented with abdominal symptoms and in whom an unusual peritoneal lesion was found at operation, had one factor common to their medical histories—namely, previous treatment with the β-adrenergic-blocking drug practolol. The main finding at laparotomy was a pattern of massive peritoneal adhesions, but one patient had no history of abdominal surgery, and the findings at laparotomy were unusual. Other possible causes of this sclerosing peritonitis can be excluded, and the possible involvement of practolol in these cases is supported by the identification, via the Committee on Safety of Medicines, of four similar cases.