II. Indications
- Severe refractory Constipation due to Opioids
III. Mechanism
IV. Preparations
- Naloxegol (Movantik) once daily orally in morning ($10/day)
- FDA approved for non-cancer, Opioid-Induced Constipation
- Requires Renal Dosing adjustment
- Chey (2014) N Engl J Med 370:2387-96 [PubMed]
- Methylnaltrexone (Relistor) injection ($70/day)
- Methylnaltrexone 5 mg or 0.15 mg/kg SQ
- Weight-based SQ Injection once or twice daily
- Diarrhea occurs in 8% and Abdominal Pain in 13%
- Requires Renal Dosing adjustment
- Contraindicated in Intestinal Obstruction
- Exercise caution in intestinal malignancy
- Naldemedine (Symproic)
- Dose: Orally once daily
- No renal dose adjustment needed
- Alvimopan (Entereg)
- Approved only for short-term management of post-operative ileus
- Restricted prescribing due to risk of Myocardial Infarction
V. Advantages
- Does not cross blood-brain barrier
VI. Disadvantages
- All agents in this class are expensive as of 2017 (costs range between $10 to $70 per day)
VII. Efficacy
- In general, results in one more Bowel Movement per week and may spare Laxative use
- Refractory Opioid Induced Constipation in Cancer and Palliative Care
- Both oral Naldemedine (Symproic) and SQ Methylnaltrexone (Relistor) are effective with benefits outweighing harms
- Brown (2023) Am Fam Physician 107(2):131-2 [PubMed]
- Terminally ill patients
- Bowel Movement occurs within 4 hours of dose in 48% of patients (15% wiith Placebo)
- Median time to Bowel Movement is 45 minutes (>6 hours for Placebo)
VIII. References
- (2017) Presc Lett 24(12): 70
- Portenoy (2008) J Pain Symptom Manage 35(5): 458-68 [PubMed]
- Thomas (2008) N Engl J Med 358(22): 2332-43 [PubMed]
Images: Related links to external sites (from Bing)
Related Studies
relistor (on 1/1/2022 at Medicaid.Gov Survey of pharmacy drug pricing) | ||
RELISTOR 12 MG/0.6 ML SYRINGE | $232.20 per ml | |
RELISTOR 12 MG/0.6 ML VIAL | $230.56 per ml | |
RELISTOR 150 MG TABLET | $23.17 each | |
movantik (on 1/1/2022 at Medicaid.Gov Survey of pharmacy drug pricing) | ||
MOVANTIK 12.5 MG TABLET | $12.26 each | |
MOVANTIK 25 MG TABLET | $12.30 each | |
symproic (on 1/1/2022 at Medicaid.Gov Survey of pharmacy drug pricing) | ||
SYMPROIC 0.2 MG TABLET | $13.31 each |