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Pharmacology: Alverine citrate is a smooth muscle antispasmodic which is approximately 3 times as potent as papaverine and with a longer duration of action. It is neither an anticholinergic nor a derivative of atropine. Its direct spasmolytic action appears to be due to the local anesthetic properties of the drug. It has not been found to block ganglionic or skeletal neuromuscular transmission, nor to significantly reduce gastric or pancreatic secretion.
The clinical use of simethicone is based on its antifoam properties. Silicone antifoams spread on the surface of aqueous liquids, forming a film of low surface tension and thus causing collapse of foam bubbles. Simethicone reportedly allows mucus-surrounded gas bubbles in the GI tract to coalesce and be expelled.
