Promoting tolerance of enteral feeds in children and young people: domperidone

About domperidone

Domperidone is a medicine that works by helping food move faster through the oesophagus (the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach), stomach and gut so that the food doesn't stay in 1 place for too long. It also helps stop food travelling the wrong way back up the oesophagus.

In the UK, domperidone (available as tablets, a liquid, and as a suppository – a solid cone-shaped preparation that is inserted into the bottom) is licensed in children and young people for the relief of symptoms of nausea and vomiting.

Currently, there aren't any treatments in the UK that are licensed to improve the symptoms of feeding intolerance in children and young people being tube fed. Using domperidone in this way is known as an 'off-label' use of the medicine. The aim of using domperidone is to help the stomach empty its contents into the gut faster and therefore relieve the symptoms of feeding intolerance