Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jul;179(13):3283-3305.
doi: 10.1111/bph.15800. Epub 2022 Feb 15.

Postoperative ileus: A pharmacological perspective

Etienne Buscail  1   2 , Céline Deraison  1
Affiliations
Free article
Review

Postoperative ileus: A pharmacological perspective

Etienne Buscail et al. Br J Pharmacol. 2022 Jul.
Free article

Abstract

Postoperative ileus (POI) is a frequent complication after abdominal surgery. The consequences of postoperative ileus can be potentially serious such as bronchial inhalation or acute functional renal failure. Numerous advances in peri-operative management, particularly early rehabilitation, have made it possible to decrease postoperative ileus. Despite this, the rate of prolonged postoperative ileus remains high and can be as high as 25% of patients in colorectal surgery. From a pathophysiological point of view, postoperative ileus has two phases, an early neurological phase and a later inflammatory phase, to which we could add a 'pharmacological' phase during which analgesic drugs, particularly opiates, play a central role. The aim of this review article is to describe the phases of the pathophysiology of postoperative ileus, to analyse the pharmacological treatments currently available through published clinical trials and finally to discuss the different research areas for potential pharmacological targets.

Keywords: gastrointestinal; inflammation; postoperative ileus; surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

REFERENCES

    1. Alexander, S. P., Christopoulos, A., Davenport, A. P., Kelly, E., Mathie, A., Peters, J. A., Veale, E. L., Armstrong, J. F., Faccenda, E., Harding, S. D., Pawson, A. J., Southan, C., Davies, J. A., Abbracchio, M. P., Alexander, W., Al-hosaini, K., Bäck, M., Barnes, N. M., Bathgate, R., … Ye, R. D. (2021). THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22: G protein-coupled receptors. British Journal of Pharmacology, 178(S1), S27-S156. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.15538
    1. Alexander, S. P., Fabbro, D., Kelly, E., Mathie, A., Peters, J. A., Veale, E. L., Armstrong, J. F., Faccenda, E., Harding, S. D., Pawson, A. J., Southan, C., Davies, J. A., Boison, D., Burns, K. E., Dessauer, C., Gertsch, J., Helsby, N. A., Izzo, A. A., Koesling, D., … Wong, S. S. (2021). THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22: Enzymes. British Journal of Pharmacology, 178(S1), S313-S411. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.15542
    1. Alexander, S. P., Mathie, A., Peters, J. A., Veale, E. L., Striessnig, J., Kelly, E., Armstrong, J. F., Faccenda, E., Harding, S. D., Pawson, A. J., Southan, C., Davies, J. A., Aldrich, R. W., Attali, B., Baggetta, A. M., Becirovic, E., Biel, M., Bill, R. M., Catterall, W. A., … Zhu, M. (2021). THE CONCISE GUIDE TO PHARMACOLOGY 2021/22: Ion channels. British Journal of Pharmacology, 178(S1), S157-S245. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.15539
    1. Asano, K., Takahashi, N., Ushiki, M., Monya, M., Aihara, F., Kuboki, E., Moriyama, S., Iida, M., Kitamura, H., Qiu, C. H., Watanabe, T., & Tanaka, M. (2015). Intestinal CD169(+) macrophages initiate mucosal inflammation by secreting CCL8 that recruits inflammatory monocytes. Nature Communications, 6, 7802.
    1. Babu, D., Motterlini, R., & Lefebvre, R. A. (2015). CO and CO-releasing molecules (CO-RMs) in acute gastrointestinal inflammation. British Journal of Pharmacology, 172, 1557-1573. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.12632

Substances

LinkOut - more resources