Case Study: Opioid-induced Constipation

You work in a pediatric surgical practice. You notice that children are frequently seen post-discharge for complaints of abdominal distress and constipation. You suspect opioid-induced constipation. Your practice has no related practice policies.

Questions: What can you discover about opioid-induced constipation in your own practice and in general? Should your practice have a related policy? If not, why not? If so, what should the policy be?

Data

Data from your practice 2009-present. Please calculate statistics from the data.

Related articles: Only examples. 

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0707377#t=articleResults

http://pain-topics.org/pdf/Managing_Opioid-Induced_Constipation.pdf

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1974804/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16207320

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15561393

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19662923

http://www.intechopen.com/books/statistics/constipation-causes-diagnosis-and-treatment/etiopathogenesis-incidence-and-diagnosis-of-opioid-induced-constipation

What other sources are available to you?

Please do research and utilize other sources.

Grading rubric:

1. Use of credible sources (1 points). Make sure that your (minimum of 2) sources are scholarly, current, and credible. 

2. Analysis of applicability of research studies to target population (1 points). Any studies cited in support of your work must be discussed in light of their appropriateness for your patients.

3. Use of statistics to describe the scope of the problem of opioid-induced constipation (1 points).

4. Description of the problem, background information, and recommended solution (1 points).

5. Use of APA format. (1 point).