Here’s what you should know:
1. When taking opioids, patients can experience GI symptoms and side effects such as opioid-induced constipation, esophageal dysmotility and delayed gastric emptying.
2. Researchers recommend gastroenterologists consider whether any GI symptoms could be related to opioid use.
3. Researchers recommend physicians use symptomatic remedies to counter the pharmacologic effects caused by acute administration of opioids.
4. Concerning opioid-induced constipation, gastroenterologists should use the bowel function index to identify chronic OIC not responding to first-line therapies.
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