Introduction

As a healthcare professional, you will be familiar with the fact that opioids prescribed for pain relief often cause constipation as a side-effect. This is known as opioid-induced constipation, or OIC. It has been shown that most users of opioids will experience OIC.¹

OIC is caused by both weak opioids (e.g. tramadol, codeine) and strong opioids (e.g. morphine, oxycodone) to a similar degree.²

Many of the signs and symptoms of OIC are similar to other forms of constipation, but the condition is different in having a distinct identifiable cause. The agonist action of opioids at opioid receptors in the gut causes disturbance in three essential GI functions: these are a change in gut motility, decreased gut secretion and increased sphincter tone.^3,4 The combination of these factors results in OIC.