Long-term effects of pergolide in the treatment of restless legs syndrome

An open follow-up of a controlled study in patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) shows that the beneficial effect of pergolide on RLS symptoms persists throughout at least 1 year. Twenty-two patients of 28 (78.6%) continued to take pergolide. Polysomnographic measurements showed a persistent improvement of PLM index, PLMS arousal index, total sleep time, and sleep efficiency (p = 0.0001). Side effects, in particular nausea, were common but were well controlled by domperidone in most patients.