Author(s)

Mohammad Alnaeem¹, Mohammad Ibrahim Al Qadire², Jafar Alasad^3*

¹Ministry of Health, Prince Hamzah Hospital, Amman, Jordan.
²Faculty of Nursing, Al Al-Bayt University, Mafraq, Jordan.
³Clinical Nursing Department, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.

Background: To reduce patients’ unnecessary suffering, Opioids Induced Constipation (OIC) should be identified and treated as early as possible with the most current treatment. Aims: to investigate the effectiveness of prophylactic laxatives in reducing the severity of OIC and its impact on cancer patients’ quality of life. Methods: A Randomized Clinical Trial design was used. 57 cancer patients from one oncology clinic at a governmental hospital participated in the study. Patients in the intervention groups were given an oral colonic stimulant laxative (i.e. Bisacodyl, Dose = 3 tab/day) or an oral colonic osmotic laxative (i.e. Lactulose, Dose = 15 ml three times per day), while patients in the control continue receiving their routine care as usual. Results: A significant decrease in the severity of constipation symptoms among the intervention group at four weeks post-intervention was noted (p < 0.001). In addition, there was a significant improvement in QOL among patients in the intervention group (p < 0.001) and no significant difference in the control group (p = 0.887). Conclusions: It can be concluded that the use prophylactic of first line laxatives concurrently with opioids decreased the severity of OIC and improved the QOL for cancer patients.

Neoplasm, Adult, Opioids, Constipation, Stimulant, Laxatives

Alnaeem, M. , Al Qadire, M. and Alasad, J. (2018) Effects of Prophylactic Laxatives for Opioid-Induced Constipation on Constipation Severity and Quality of Life among Patients with Cancer. Open Journal of Nursing, 8, 505-517. doi: 10.4236/ojn.2018.88038.