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Review
. 2013 Sep;15(9):344.
doi: 10.1007/s11894-013-0344-2.

Opioid-induced bowel dysfunction

Gyanprakash A Ketwaroo  1 , Vivian Cheng, Anthony Lembo
Affiliations
Review

Opioid-induced bowel dysfunction

Gyanprakash A Ketwaroo et al. Curr Gastroenterol Rep. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

Opioid-induced bowel dysfunction (OIBD) is a potentially debilitating side effect of chronic opioid use. It refers to a collection of primarily gastrointestinal motility disorders induced by opioids, of which opioid-induced constipation (OIC) is the most common. Management of OIBD is difficult, and affected patients will often limit their opioid intake at the expense of experiencing more pain, to reduce the negative impact of OIBD on their quality of life. Effective pharmacologic therapy for OIC is considered an unmet need and several agents have recently been given priority review and approval for OIC. Furthermore, multiple agents currently in development show promise in treating OIC without significant impact on analgesia or precipitation of withdrawal symptoms. The approval and availability of such medications would represent a significant improvement in the management of OIC and OIBD in patients with chronic pain.

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Conflict of interest statement

Gyanprakash A. Ketwaroo, Vivian Cheng, and Anthony Lembo declare that they have no conflict of interest

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Primary outcomes of a clinical trial comparing methylnaltrexone and placebo in patients with opioid-induced constipation [38]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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