Clinical Interventions in Aging (Dec 2010)
Comment: update on the management of constipation in the elderly: new treatment options
Abstract
Lee TechnerAdolor Corporation, Exton, PA, USATo the editor,I read with great interest the recent article by Rao and Go regarding new treatment options for the management of constipation in the elderly.1 In this article, alvimopan was described as having been “recently…introduced for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation”. Furthermore, alvimopan was included in a treatment algorithm for management of opioid-induced chronic constipation in the elderly (see Figure 1 in Rao and Go).1 Additionally, other “potential uses” for peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonists (including alvimopan) were identified by the authors and included treatment of “opioid-related nausea and vomiting, urinary retention, pruritus or post-operative ileus”. This characterization of alvimopan requires further clarification.
