Background. Loss of normal bowel function caused by nerve injury, neurological disease or congenital defects of the nervous system is termed neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD). It usually includes combinations of fecal incontinence, constipation, abdominal pain and bloating. When standard treatment of NBD fails surgical procedures are often needed. Neurostimulation has also been investigated, b...

Functional gut disorders, including diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, are highly prevalent conditions worldwide that significantly impact health economy and patient quality of life, yet lacking fully satisfactory therapeutic options. These circumstances fostered research on various molecules with more specific therapeutic targets, including opioid receptors. Eluxadoline (Allergan's...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Pre-clinical and clinical trials of peripheral opiate antagonists have shed new light on the effects of exogenous and endogenous opioids. CONTENTS This article review preclinical studies and clinical opioid bowel disfunction trials. CONCLUSIONS If approved these drugs may offer potential solutions to important clinical problems in pain management.

Constipation is a common and often debilitating condition in the elderly, which may be caused by underlying disease conditions, structural abnormalities in the bowel, and a variety of medications such as anticholinergics, antidepressants, and opiates. In this review, we focus on opioid-induced constipation (OIC), which is often underrecognized and undertreated in the elderly. When opioid therap...

Cancer-induced pain is a complex issue of utmost importance in everyday clinical practice. Published data show that the majority of patients with advanced or disseminated cancer and between 27% and 60% of ambulatory cancer patients in various stages of the disease may suffer from moderate or severe pain (VAS 5–10) [1, 2]. However, it has been demonstrated that up to 82% of patients with cancer-...

BACKGROUND Despite recent efforts to educate multiple sclerosis (MS) health-care providers about the importance of pelvic floor disorders (urinary, bowel, and sexual dysfunction), no data are currently available to assess outcomes of these efforts in terms of patient satisfaction. METHODS As part of the fall 2010 North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis survey, we conducted a p...