Intestinal stimulation is among the basic therapeutic procedures in functional ileus. But the majority of cases of functional ileus is due not to paralysis but to adrenergic inhibition. Thus the primary treatment should not be to stimulate but to act against the inhibition. In over 100 patients a combined treatment schedule consisted of primary adrenergic blockade (trifluperidol, dihydroergotamine or chlorpromazine) followed by low doses of stimulants (ceruletide, neostigmine). 52 patients who had not responded to high doses of peristalsis-stimulating drugs acted as their own controls: in 48 of them intestinal function was restored by sympathicolysis. If indications and application are properly observed the method has a low risk and provides effective treatment of functional ileus, especially in cases resistant to other forms of treatment.