Prospective evaluation of 18 patients with restless legs syndrome treated with ropinirole

Ugeskr Læger 2005;167: 1284-1286

Introduction: Dopaminergic agents are the best studied and most successful agents for the treatment of restless legs syndrome (RLS). Recent studies suggest that the dopamine agonists should be the first line of therapy before levodopa. We present our clinical experience with the dopamine agonist ropinirole in the treatment of RLS.

Materials and methods: We tested ropinirole in 18 patients with RLS in an open-label study. Average follow-up time was 8.2 months. The mean daily dose of ropinirole was 1.9 mg.

Results: The patients showed a 47.7% improvement in RLS score based on a questionnaire from the International Restless Legs Study Group. Six patients (33.3%) reported side effects, most commonly nausea. Four patients (22.2%) discontinued ropinirole because of unacceptable side effects, lack of clinical effect and high cost.

Discussion: Our study showed that patients' assessment of their symptoms after treatment with ropinirole improved but that side effects can be a problem.