The long and short of a constipation-reducing medication

Prucalopride: the evidence for its use in the treatment of chronic constipation

Introduction:

Chronic constipation is a common condition that is difficult to treat. Existing options for the treatment of patients with different subgroups of constipation are limited. A new efficacious and safe drug is needed to limit the frequently observed adverse effects induced by laxatives, to improve general wellbeing and quality of life, and to provide an alternative for enemas or even resectional surgery in patients in whom stimulant laxatives cause disabling adverse effects or fail to increase bowel movement frequency.

Aims:

The purpose of this article is to assess the current evidence supporting the use of the selective and high affinity serotonin-4 (5-HT₄) receptor agonist prucalopride in the management of chronic constipation.

Evidence review:

There are now convincing data from phase II and multicenter phase III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials that prucalopride treatment results in a clinically meaningful increase in the number of spontaneous complete bowel movements, a reduction of perceived severity of symptoms and improved disease-related quality of life in a significant proportion of patients. There is a rapid onset of the effect and the improvement is maintained for at least 12 weeks.

Prucalopride in a dose of up to 4 mg per day appeared generally well tolerated and devoid of serious cardiac events. Adverse events, most frequently headache and nausea, are usually mild or moderate and occur mainly during the first days of treatment. Prucalopride should be used with prudence and with careful assessment of the benefit-risk ratio until more clinical and electrophysiologic data become available, because relatively few patients have been exposed to the drug for long periods of time.

Place in therapy:

Prucalopride 1–2 mg once daily may be given to patients suffering from chronic constipation for whom laxatives do not provide adequate relief of their symptoms. Patients with severe constipation and slow transit, who frequently develop tolerance to stimulant laxatives, are also eligible for prucalopride treatment.

Constipation in the elderly: management strategies

Constipation is a highly prevalent and bothersome disorder that negatively affects patients' social and professional lives and places a great economic burden on both patients and national health services. An accurate determination of the prevalence of constipation is difficult because of the various definitions used, but many epidemiological studies have shown that it affects up to 20% of the population at any one time. Although constipation is not a physiological consequence of normal aging, decreased mobility and other co-morbid medical conditions may contribute to its prevalence in older adults. Functional constipation is diagnosed when no secondary causes can be identified. Patients have some unusual beliefs about their bowel habits. Systematic attention to history, examination and investigation, especially in older people, can be highly effective in resolving problems and in enhancing quality of life. There is a considerable range of treatment modalities available for patients with constipation, but the clinical evidence supporting their use varies widely. However, if constipation is not managed proactively, patients can experience negative consequences, such as anorexia, nausea, bowel impaction or bowel perforation. The clinical benefits of various traditional pharmacological and non-pharmacological agents remain unclear. The first steps in the treatment of simple constipation include increasing intake of dietary fibre and the use of a fibre supplement. Patients with severe constipation or those unable to comply with the recommended intake of fibre may benefit from the addition of laxatives. More recently, newer agents (e.g. tegaserod and lubiprostone), have been approved for the treatment of patients with chronic constipation. Additional work is needed to determine what role, if any, these agents may play in the treatment of patients with chronic constipation. The purpose of this review is to identify evidence-based interventions for the prevention and management of constipation in the elderly.

Constipation in the elderly: management strategies

Constipation is a highly prevalent and bothersome disorder that negatively affects patients' social and professional lives and places a great economic burden on both patients and national health services. An accurate determination of the prevalence of constipation is difficult because of the various definitions used, but many epidemiological studies have shown that it affects up to 20% of the population at any one time. Although constipation is not a physiological consequence of normal aging, decreased mobility and other co-morbid medical conditions may contribute to its prevalence in older adults. Functional constipation is diagnosed when no secondary causes can be identified. Patients have some unusual beliefs about their bowel habits. Systematic attention to history, examination and investigation, especially in older people, can be highly effective in resolving problems and in enhancing quality of life. There is a considerable range of treatment modalities available for patients with constipation, but the clinical evidence supporting their use varies widely. However, if constipation is not managed proactively, patients can experience negative consequences, such as anorexia, nausea, bowel impaction or bowel perforation. The clinical benefits of various traditional pharmacological and non-pharmacological agents remain unclear. The first steps in the treatment of simple constipation include increasing intake of dietary fibre and the use of a fibre supplement. Patients with severe constipation or those unable to comply with the recommended intake of fibre may benefit from the addition of laxatives. More recently, newer agents (e.g. tegaserod and lubiprostone), have been approved for the treatment of patients with chronic constipation. Additional work is needed to determine what role, if any, these agents may play in the treatment of patients with chronic constipation. The purpose of this review is to identify evidence-based interventions for the prevention and management of constipation in the elderly.