SUMMARYIn a double‐blind placebo‐controlled trial of patients undergoing elective abdominal surgery (n=91), a single intravenous infusion of ceruletide (2.5 ng kg−’min−1’for 1 hour) resulted in audible bowel sounds in 42/47 patients as opposed to 30/44 receiving placebo (P<0.025). Excessive bowel sounds were noted in 16 patients in the ceruletide group and four receiving placebo (P<0.01). Significantly more patients (P<0.01) in the ceruletide group (22/45 versus 9/44) passed flatusper rectumbetween the second and third post‐operative day. Ceruletide infusion was accompanied by a significant increase in the incidence of nausea and vomiting (P<0.005,P<0.0025) but these side effects were short‐lived. These results indicate that ceruletide is likely to be a useful therapeutic agent for acute intestinal adynamic mot