Pseudo-obstruction of the bowel. Therapeutic trial of metoclopramide

Neurogastroenterology and Motility Disorders of the Gastrointestinal Tract in Cystic Fibrosis

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To discuss all the various motility disorders impacting people with Cystic Fibrosis (PwCF) and provide diagnostic and management approaches from a group of pediatric and adult CF and motility experts and physiologists with experience in the management of this disease.

RECENT FINDINGS

Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms coexist with pulmonary symptoms in PwCF regardless of age and sex. The GI manifestations include gastroesophageal reflux disease, esophageal dysmotility gastroparesis, small bowel dysmotility, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth syndrome, distal idiopathic obstruction syndrome, constipation, and pelvic floor disorders. They are quite debilitating, limiting the patients' quality of life and affecting their nutrition and ability to socialize. This genetic disorder affects many organ systems and is chronic, potentially impacting fertility and future family planning, requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Our review discusses the treatments of motility disorders in CF, their prevalence and pathophysiology. We have provided a framework for clinicians who care for these patients that can help to guide their clinical management.

Pharmacological and nutritional therapy of children and adults with chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction

INTRODUCTION

Chronic intestinal pseudoobstruction (CIPO) is a rare, heterogenous, and severe form of gastrointestinal dysmotility.

AREAS COVERED

Pertinent literature on pediatric and adult CIPO management has been assessed via PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE from inception to June 2022. Prokinetics, aimed at restoring intestinal propulsion (e.g. orthopramides and substituted benzamides, acetyl cholinesterase inhibitors, serotonergic agents, and others), have been poorly tested and the available data showed only partial efficacy. Moreover, some prokinetic agents (e.g. orthopramides and substituted benzamides) can cause major side effects. CIPO-related small intestinal bacterial overgrowth requires treatment preferably via poorly absorbable antibiotics to avoid bacterial resistance. Apart from opioids, which worsen gut motility, analgesics should be considered to manage visceral pain, which might dominate the clinical manifestations. Nutritional support, via modified oral feeding, enteral, or parenteral nutrition, is key to halting CIPO-related malnutrition.

EXPERT OPINION

There have been significant roadblocks preventing the development of CIPO treatment. Nonetheless, the considerable advancement in neurogastroenterology and pharmacological agents cast hopes to test the actual efficacy of new prokinetics via well-designed clinical trials. Adequate dietary strategies and supplementation remain of crucial importance. Taken together, novel pharmacological and nutritional options are expected to provide adequate treatments forthese patients.

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction: a case report with review of the literature and practical guidance for the clinician

Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a rare but debilitating and severe form of gastrointestinal dysmotility. The diagnosis is often made very late in the disease course due to its rarity and complexity. Treatment is mainly supportive, as there is no definitive cure. Pharmacologic therapy comprises prokinetics, antibiotics for bacterial overgrowth and pain management. Pain can also be alleviated with intestinal decompression in selected cases. Beside the pharmacologic therapy, nutrition and fluid replacement play a key role. Rarely, intestinal transplantation is necessary in patients with CIPO and intestinal failure. In this review, we describe an advanced CIPO case and provide an update of the clinical and diagnostic features and current management strategies. The goal of our review is to raise awareness around CIPO and to give practical guidance for the clinician.

Small Bowel Dysmotility, Pseudoobstruction, and Functional Correlation with Histopathology: Lessons Learned

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Small bowel dysmotility is a broad heterogeneous term that encompasses a wide range of gastrointestinal disorders resulting from abnormal gut motility. Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a severe, rare, and complex small bowel motility disorder at the extreme end of this spectrum. It is characterized by failure of the intestinal tract to propel contents, which results in signs and symptoms of bowel obstruction albeit in the absence of any obstructive lesion(s). In this article, we discuss up-to-date diagnostic techniques, management options, and histopathological findings in CIPO.

RECENT FINDINGS

We will emphasize the latest diagnostic methodologies and therapeutic options as well as enteric histopathologic abnormalities in patients with CIPO. CIPO continues to be a clinical challenge. Several novel pharmacological agents hold promise including gastrointestinal hormone agonists and prokinetics. Furthermore, histopathologic findings may help guide therapy and provide further prognostic significance. At present, nutritional support, symptom management, and avoidance of long-term complications are the mainstay of treatment in CIPO.

Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management of Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a rare disorder characterized by an impairment of coordinated propulsive activity in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which clinically mimics mechanical intestinal obstruction. CIPO is the most severe and debilitating form of GI dysmotility. CIPO may be primary or be secondary to pathology at any level of the brain-gut axis as well as systemic disease. The clinical features of CIPO are pleomorphic and largely depend on the site and extent of the segment of the GI tract involved. The diagnostic approach includes the need for investigations to exclude mechanical GI obstruction, screening for causes of secondary CIPO and the identification of the disease phenotype as well as the prompt recognition and treatment of complications such as malnutrition and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. In managing this disorder, a holistic, multidisciplinary approach is needed with judicious use of pharmacotherapeutic agents. While currently there are no specific therapeutic modalities for CIPO, treatment is largely directed at maintaining adequate nutrition and electrolyte balance and enhancing coordinated GI motility. Surgery should be avoided unless advisable for carefully selected patients and may include stoma formation. This narrative review provides a concise overview of the literature on this rare, severe and complex disorder, and highlights the need and areas for further research to improve both diagnostics and therapeutics.

Paediatric Intestinal Pseudo-obstruction: Evidence and Consensus-based Recommendations From an ESPGHAN-Led Expert Group

OBJECTIVES

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstructive (CIPO) conditions are considered the most severe disorders of gut motility. They continue to present significant challenges in clinical care despite considerable recent progress in our understanding of pathophysiology, resulting in unacceptable levels of morbidity and mortality. Major contributors to the disappointing lack of progress in paediatric CIPO include a dearth of clarity and uniformity across all aspects of clinical care from definition and diagnosis to management. In order to assist medical care providers in identifying, evaluating, and managing children with CIPO, experts in this condition within the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition as well as selected external experts, were charged with the task of developing a uniform document of evidence- and consensus-based recommendations.

METHODS

Ten clinically relevant questions addressing terminology, diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic topics were formulated. A systematic literature search was performed from inception to June 2017 using a number of established electronic databases as well as repositories. The approach of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was applied to evaluate outcome measures for the research questions. Levels of evidence and quality of evidence were assessed using the classification system of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (diagnosis) and the GRADE system (treatment). Each of the recommendations were discussed, finalized, and voted upon using the nominal voting technique to obtain consensus.

RESULTS

This evidence- and consensus-based position paper provides recommendations specifically for chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction in infants and children. It proposes these be termed paediatric intestinal pseudo-obstructive (PIPO) disorders to distinguish them from adult onset CIPO. The manuscript provides guidance on the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of children with PIPO in an effort to standardise the quality of clinical care and improve short- and long-term outcomes. Key recommendations include the development of specific diagnostic criteria for PIPO, red flags to alert clinicians to the diagnosis and guidance on the use of available investigative modalities. The group advocates early collaboration with expert centres where structured diagnosis and management is guided by a multi-disciplinary team, and include targeted nutritional, medical, and surgical interventions as well as transition to adult services.

CONCLUSIONS

This document is intended to be used in daily practice from the time of first presentation and definitive diagnosis PIPO through to the complex management and treatment interventions such as intestinal transplantation. Significant challenges remain to be addressed through collaborative clinical and research interactions.

Nutritional Interventions in Chronic Intestinal Pseudoobstruction

Although chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a rare disorder, it presents a wide spectrum of severity that ranges from abdominal bloating to severe gastrointestinal dysfunction. In the worst cases, patients may become dependent upon artificial nutrition via parenteral nutrition or choose to have an intestinal transplant. However, whatever the severity, a patient's quality of life can be seriously compromised. This article defines the disorder and discusses the spectrum of disease and challenges to providing adequate nutrition to help improve a patient's quality of life.

Acute and chronic pseudo-obstruction: a current update

Acute colonic pseudo-obstruction (ACPO) and chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) are distinct clinical entities in which patients present similarly with symptoms of a mechanical obstruction without an occlusive lesion. Unfortunately, they also share the issues related to a delay in diagnosis, including inappropriate management and poor outcomes. Advancements have been made in our understanding of the aetiologies of both conditions. Several predisposing factors linked to critical illness have been implicated in ACPO. CIPO is a functional motility disorder, historically misdiagnosed, with unnecessary surgery being performed in many patients with dire consequences. This review discusses the pathophysiology, clinical and diagnostic features, and treatment of each. For ACPO, a safer pharmacological approach to treatment is presented in a modified up-to-date algorithm. The importance of CIPO as a differential diagnosis when seeing patients with recurrent admissions for abdominal pain and distention is also discussed, as well as specific indications for surgery. While surgery is often a last resort, the role of the surgeon in the management of both ACPO and CIPO cannot be undervalued. By characterizing each condition in a common review, the knowledge gleaned aims to optimize outcomes for these frequently complex patients.

Advances and challenges in the management of acute colonic pseudo-obstruction (ogilvie syndrome)

Although acute colonic pseudo-obstruction (ACPO), also known as Ogilvie syndrome, is a well-known clinical entity, in many respects it remains poorly understood and continues to challenge physicians and surgeons alike. Our understanding of ACPO continues to evolve and its epidemiology has changed as new conditions have been identified predisposing to ACPO with critical illness providing the common thread among them. A physician must keep ACPO high in the list of differential diagnoses when dealing with the patient experiencing abdominal distention, and one must be prepared to employ and interpret imaging studies to exclude mechanical obstruction. Rapid diagnosis is the key, and institution of conservative measures often will lead to resolution. Fortunately, when this fails pharmacologic intervention with neostigmine often proves effective. However, it is not a panacea: consensus on dosing does not exist, administration techniques vary and may impact efficacy, contraindications limit its use, and persistence and or recurrence of ACPO mandate continued search for additional medical therapies. When medical therapy fails or is contraindicated, endoscopy offers effective intervention with advanced techniques such as decompression tubes or percutaneous endoscopic cecostomy providing effective results. Operative intervention remains the treatment of last resort; surgical outcomes are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Therefore, a surgeon should be aware of all options for decompression-conservative, pharmacologic, and endoscopic-and use them in best combination to the advantage of patients who often suffer from significant concurrent illnesses making them poor operative candidates.

Gastric and enteric involvement in progressive systemic sclerosis

Progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) is a chronic multisystem disease characterized by excess deposition of connective tissue in skin and internal organs, associated with microvasculature changes and immunologic abnormalities. Involvement of the gastrointestinal tract may occur in 2 stages, a neuropathic disorder followed by a myopathy. Gastric emptying is delayed in 10% to 75% of patients and correlates with symptoms of early satiety, bloating, and emesis. Compliance of the fundus is increased although perception of fullness is normal. Myoelectric abnormalities have been found in some studies. Treatments include metoclopramide, cisapride, and erythromycin. Bleeding from telangiectasias and watermelon stomach is treated endoscopically. Small bowel involvement in PSS occurs in 17% to 57% of patients. The migrating motor complexes are reduced or absent, predisposing to bacterial overgrowth. Malabsorption may also be due to pancreatic insufficiency. Barium enemas demonstrate pancolonic involvement in 10% to 50% of patients with PSS. Wide-mouthed diverticuli, involving all layers of the intestinal wall, are characteristic. Pseudoobstruction may respond to octreotide or prucalopride therapy. Complications include pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis, stercoral ulcerations, and perforation. Fecal incontinence may be due to dysfunction of the internal anal sphincter, a smooth muscle responsible for most of the resting anal sphincter pressure. Anal manometry may show a reduction or loss of the rectoanal inhibitory reflex. Treatments include biofeedback, sacral nerve stimulation, and surgery. PSS involves the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus. Studies are needed to define effective treatments in these diseases, which cause great morbidity.

Clinical, radiologic, and manometric characteristics of chronic intestinal dysmotility: the Stanford experience

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The clinical spectrum of chronic intestinal dysmotility (CID) is not well known. We determined the spectrum of motor abnormalities, underlying pathology, clinical course, and response to treatment of adults with CID at a tertiary referral center.

METHODS

This was a descriptive retrospective analysis of a CID cohort conducted at a tertiary referral gastrointestinal (GI) motility center. A total of 113 referred patients underwent gastroduodenal manometry, other motility studies as appropriate, and radiologic and/or endoscopic assessment to exclude mechanical intestinal obstruction.

RESULTS

Common symptoms included abdominal distention, abdominal pain, nausea, and constipation. The course was chronic with intermittent symptoms. Gastroduodenal manometry was abnormal in all patients; a pattern suggestive of a neuropathic process was the most common. Other GI motility studies showed delayed gastric, gallbladder, and colonic transit, nonspecific esophageal dysmotility, sphincter of Oddi hypertonicity, and poor rectal balloon sensation/expulsion. Treatment involved nutritional support, prokinetics, analgesics, antinausea agents, and laxatives, with variable response and high morbidity, multiple emergency admissions, need for nutritional support, and poor response to surgery. Nearly 40% of the patients underwent abdominal surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with CID have a chronic course and high morbidity. Because any segment of the GI tract may be involved in CID, functional assessment of the entire GI tract is recommended. CID presents several unmet clinical needs even in tertiary centers with expertise.

Chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction: the need for a multidisciplinary approach to management

At the outset of the research programme into irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) it was perceived that there was a need to develop a symptom-based classification for the patients. Four groups of patients were identified, those with spastic colon syndrome, diarrhoea-predominant spastic colon syndrome, functional diarrhoea and midgut dysmotility. While working with outpatients with IBS it was noted how some of them had suffered symptoms for many years; specifically, a group of patients satisfying the criteria for midgut dysmotility had also suffered from particularly severe and intractable intestinal symptoms. These patients underwent 24 h ambulatory studies of small intestinal motility and the majority were found to have manometric features of chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIIP). To characterise the cause, laparoscopic full-thickness small intestine and colonic biopsies have been obtained in forty-five of the latter group of patients. Of these patients 58% have been found to have complete or partial deficiency of alpha-actin epitope staining in the inner circular layer of small intestinal smooth muscle. This deficiency is believed to represent an important biomarker rather than the cause of CIIP, since alpha-actin epitope deficiency has been observed in association with enteric neuropathy and myopathies. In relation to the management of CIIP patients, a multidisciplinary model is proposed incorporating management of co-morbid psychological and psychiatric pathology, abdominal and musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, urological symptoms and nutrition. A six-stage nutritional management plan for these patients is presented.

Pseudo-pseudo-obstruction: lessons in diagnosis and management

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIP) has been defined as a rare and severe, disabling disorder, which is characterised by recurring episodes or continuous symptoms and signs of bowel obstruction, including radiological features of obstruction. It is suggested that the diagnosis should be broadened to include patients with severe gastrointestinal symptoms who do not have radiological features of obstruction but who have manometric features of CIP and/or have demonstrable end organ list of pathological features described in CIP. A case of pseudo-pseudo-obstruction is described in this issue of the Journal. Originally the patient was thought to have CIP, and a mechanical cause of obstruction was suspected based on small intestine manometric features, suggesting a distal mechanical obstruction and a worsening of symptoms when treated with a prokinetic agent. As patients with CIP can develop mechanical obstruction and episodes of mechanical obstruction can mimic CIP, small intestine manometry and trials of prokinetic therapy should be undertaken in all difficult cases of obstruction and particularly in patients with documented CIP.

Chronic Intestinal Pseudoobstruction

Patients with chronic intestinal pseudoobstruction (CIP) experience a constellation of symptoms including abdominal pain, nausea, fullness, and malaise which fluctuates in severity and invariably result in a diminished quality of life. Though surgical resection or transplantation may be an option for some, there currently is no cure for CIP. Thus, management strategies utilize pharmacologic, intravenous, endoscopic, and surgical techniques to promote transit, minimize painful bloating, reduce complications of stasis, and improve quality of life. Prokinetic agents such as erythromycin, metoclopramide, cisapride, neostigmine, and tegaserod may be effective for acute exacerbations. Octreotide may reduce symptoms of bacterial overgrowth and bloating by stimulating migrating motor complexes. Enteral tubes for venting and nutritional support may reduce hospitalizations. Total parenteral nutrition (TPN), fraught with well-known complications, may be the only tolerated source for nutrients and fluid. Advanced disease may magnify nutritional problems, difficulties of long term intravenous and intestinal access, and poor symptom control. Because the initial process may manifest in other intestinal regions following surgery, resection of involved segments should be performed with caution. Small intestinal transplantation is a high-risk surgery performed in persons unable to tolerate intravenous (IV) nutrition. Optimal management for persons with CIP should not only provide nutritional and symptom focused care but should be part of a supportive network which links patients to their appropriate healthcare needs.

Erythromycin for the treatment of chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction: description of six cases with a positive response

BACKGROUND

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, due to intestinal myopathy or neuropathy, is characterized by the signs and symptoms of intestinal obstruction in the absence of true obstruction. Episodes are resistant to medical therapy.

AIM

To determine the value of erythromycin treatment in chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction.

METHODS

All patients with proven chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction treated with erythromycin were reviewed. Patients with symptomatic benefit are described in detail. Responders were compared with non-responders to identify the factors associated with benefit.

RESULTS

Fifteen consecutive patients (nine females; median age, 37 years; median follow-up, 41 months) were treated with oral erythromycin, 1.5-2.0 g/day. Six patients (three primary visceral myopathy, two normal histology on light microscopy, one visceral myopathy secondary to scleroderma) responded, with decreased pain and vomiting, normalized bowel dysfunction and decreased episodes of ileus. Five of the six patients (83%) who responded to erythromycin were male, compared with two of the nine non-responders (22%) (P = 0.04). Four of the six responders (67%) had histological or immunohistological visceral myopathy, compared with three of the nine patients (33%) who failed to respond. Responders were less likely than non-responders to be taking long-term opiates.

CONCLUSIONS

Erythromycin is effective for acute episodes of ileus and chronic symptoms in some patients with chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction.

Diagnosis and treatment of chronic gastroparesis and chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction

Chronic gastroparesis and CIP are debilitating disorders that are difficult to treat with currently available therapies. Failure of proper migration and differentiation of enteric neurons or ICC can result from specific genetic mutations and lead to phenotypes of CIP with or without concomitant gastroparesis. Intestinal dysfunction in diabetes may reflect a depletion of NO production (and perhaps other neurotransmitters or modulators), which is manifest as a syndrome of gastroparesis, diarrhea, or constipation in individual patients. As the key molecular changes underlying these disorders are defined, clinicians will begin to understand their precise etiology and rational medical therapy may become possible. In the future, testable hypotheses regarding the etiology of other functional bowel disorders (e.g., functional dyspepsia, irritable bowel syndrome, and so forth) may be developed.

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction: treatment and long term follow up of 44 patients

AIMS

To document the long term course of chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction syndrome (CIIPS) in children with defined enteric neuromuscular disease, and the place and type of surgery used in their management; in addition, to identify prognostic factors.

METHODS

Children with CIIPS were investigated and treated prospectively.

RESULTS

Twenty four children presented congenitally, eight during the 1st year of life, and 10 later. Twenty two had myopathy and 16 neuropathy (11 familial). Malrotation was present in 16 patients, 10 had short small intestine, six had non-hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, and 16 had urinary tract involvement. Thirty two patients needed long term parenteral nutrition (TPN): for less than six months in 19 and for more than six months in 13, 10 of whom are TPN dependent; 14 are now enteral feeding. Prokinetic treatment improved six of 22. Intestinal decompression stomas were used in 36, colostomy relieved symptoms in five of 11, and ileostomy in 16 of 31. A poor outcome (death (14) or TPN dependence (10)) was seen with malrotation (13 of 16), short small bowel (eight of nine), urinary tract involvement (12 of 16), and myopathic histology (15 of 22).

CONCLUSIONS

In CIIPS drugs are not helpful but decompression stomas are. Outcome was poor in 24 of 44 children (15 muscle disorder, 10 nerve disease).

Intestinal pseudo-obstruction

Pseudo-obstruction syndromes are increasingly recognized in clinical practice. They result from impairment of intrinsic neuromuscular or extrinsic control of gut motility. Typically, pseudo-obstruction syndromes result in features suggestive of mechanical obstruction and bowel dilatation in the absence of any demonstrable obstruction or mucosal disease. The syndrome may affect any region of the gut. Less severe variants without bowel dilatation are diagnosed by measurement of gastrointestinal transit and pressure profiles. The aims of treatment are restoration of nutrition and hydration, symptom relief, normalization of intestinal propulsion with prokinetics, and suppression of bacterial overgrowth. Surgery plays a limited role, adjunctive to medical treatment, facilitating enteral nutrition and decompression by means of jejunostomy. Infrequently, resection of localized disease or intestinal transplantation are indicated. The roles of intestinal pacemakers (interstitial cells of Cajal) and genetic mutations in the etiology of pseudo-obstruction, as well as the cost-benefit ratio of transplantation for pseudo-obstruction, will be clarified in the future.

Effect of octreotide and erythromycin on idiopathic and scleroderma-associated intestinal pseudoobstruction

Treatment of chronic intestinal pseudoobstruction with prokinetic agents has been disappointing. Our study was designed to determine if octreotide and erythromycin would provide sustained relief from nausea, abdominal pain, and bloating in pseudoobstruction. Using gastrointestinal manometry, quantitative parameters of the activity front of the migrating motor complex at baseline and after prokinetic therapy with erythromycin and octreotide were determined in 14 patients with intestinal pseudoobstruction who had nausea, abdominal pain, and bloating. Patients were treated with erythromycin and octreotide for 20-33 weeks. Octreotide increased the frequency, duration, and motility index of activity fronts (AFs) from 1.2 +/- 0.3 AFs/4 hr, 2.7 +/- 0.7 min, and 85 +/- 23 min mm Hg to 4.1 +/- 0.8 AFs/4 hr, 5.5 +/- 0.7 min, and 152 +/- 24 min mm Hg, respectively (P < 0.05). Antral activity was decreased from 63 +/- 14 to 23 +/- 8% by octreotide (P < 0.05). Erythromycin induced antral activity; however, small intestinal motor activity was suppressed. While on erythromycin and octreotide, five patients had long-term improvement of nausea and abdominal pain. All responders had at least 5 AFs/4 hr induced by octreotide. We conclude that octreotide and erythromycin relieve abdominal pain and nausea in pseudoobstruction. Patients who have at least 5 AFs/4 hr after octreotide administration are most likely to clinically respond.

Open label study of long-term effectiveness of cisapride in patients with idiopathic gastroparesis

Cisapride induces acetylcholine release in cells of the myenteric plexus, thus promoting gastrointestinal motility. We studied the effects of cisapride on 11 patients with idiopathic gastroparesis. All had negative gastrointestinal endoscopy, normal glucose, and took no drugs capable of influencing motility. Most (9/11) were prior metoclopramide treatment failures. Patients' symptoms were scored (0-60) for pain, satiety, bloating, nausea, vomiting, and heartburn. All underwent a solid gastric emptying study using a Technetium-99-labeled egg meal and received placebo prior to cisapride. There were 10 females and one male with a mean (+/- SE) age of 37.8 +/- 2.6 years. Disease duration was 7.9 +/- 2.8 years. The dose of cisapride was 30-60 mg/day and the duration of therapy was 12.6 +/- 2.6 months (range 2.5-25 months). The symptom score improved on cisapride from 30.9 +/- 3.6 to 14.4 +/- 2.7 (P < 0.002 signed rank test). Emptying half-time improved from 113 +/- 4 min to 94 +/- 6 min, and 46.9 +/- 2.4% food remaining at 120 min decreased to 35.5 +/- 3.6% (both P < 0.05). Emptying half-time in normals was 68 +/- 5 min with 16.9 +/- 2.9% remaining at 120 min. Nine of 11 patients gained weight, with a mean increase of 6.7 +/- 1.6 lb (range 2-12 lb). We conclude that cisapride significantly reduces gastrointestinal symptoms and promotes weight gain in patients with idiopathic gastroparesis and is associated with improvement in solid gastric emptying. The drug is useful in patients who previously failed metoclopramide.

Prokinetic agents for lower gastrointestinal motility disorders

Prokinetic agents are currently being investigated as potential therapies for motility disorders of the lower gastrointestinal tract. Cholinergic agonists such as bethanechol are known to improve postoperative ileus but are limited because of side effects. Dopamine antagonists such as domperidone appear to have maximal prokinetic effect in the proximal gastrointestinal tract and are effective for such conditions as gastroparesis and gastroesophageal reflux, but they appear to have little physiologic effect in the colon or in colonic motility disorders. Naloxone, an opioid antagonist, appears to hold promise in patients with irritable bowel syndrome, small intestinal pseudo-obstruction, and constipation. Erythromycin exerts its prokinetic effect by acting as a motilin agonist; it has been used in the treatment of diabetic gastroparesis and appears to improve symptoms of colonic pseudo-obstruction and postoperative ileus. Metoclopramide, a combined cholinergic agonist and dopamine antagonist, is currently used exclusively for proximal motility dysfunction. Cisapride appears to hold the most promise for patients with colonic motility disorders. In patients with postoperative ileus, cisapride is associated with an increased return of bowel function compared with placebo. In patients with chronic constipation, cisapride increases stool frequency and decreases laxative abuse in both adults and children. Hopefully, as an understanding of gastrointestinal motility increases, effective prokinetic agents will be developed that will improve symptoms of patients with large bowel motility disorders and may also help to predict those patients who benefit from surgical management for constipation.

Colonoscopic decompression of pseudo-obstruction and volvulus

Flexible fiberoptic endoscopy has an integral role in the management of colonic pseudo-obstruction and volvulus. Colonoscopic decompression is the primary method for diagnosis and treatment of colonic pseudo-obstruction. Some patients require repeat endoscopic decompression, but few require tube cecostomy. In the case of sigmoid volvulus, endoscopic examination is useful as a temporizing measure to allow preparation of the colon and patient for elective definitive operative treatment.

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction: diagnosis and treatment

Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction is a rare syndrome characterized by recurrent episodes of small bowel obstruction without evidence of a structural obstructing lesion. The two pathophysiologic types of this motility disorder are myopathic and neuropathic. The latter may affect extrinsic or intrinsic neural control of gut motility. Diagnosis is based on (1) recognition of the clinical syndrome and exclusion of mechanical obstruction by endoscopy, radiologic studies, or laparotomy and (2) manometric studies of the stomach and small bowel. Full-thickness biopsy specimens for histologic analysis may not be essential for the diagnosis in the future. The goals of treatment are the restoration of normal gut peristalsis and the correction of nutritional deficiencies. Prokinetic medications, surgical excision in cases of localized disease, and parenteral nutrition are frequently necessary. Management is difficult because of the lack of efficacious medications, extension of the disease to other regions, and complications of central parenteral nutrition. Prokinetic agents, venting enterostomies for relief of symptoms, and enteral supplementation are being evaluated in this intractable and serious condition.

Intestinal pseudo-obstruction--a review

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Coeliac disease presenting with intestinal pseudo-obstruction

A 22 year old woman presenting with recurrent intestinal pseudo-obstruction is reported. Jejunal biopsy showed subtotal villous atrophy which improved markedly during a period of total parenteral nutrition and with steroid treatment. It did not relapse on a gluten free diet. The reasons why this patient represents a case of coeliac disease with secondary pseudo-obstruction, rather than primary intestinal pseudo-obstruction with secondary bacterial overgrowth, is discussed.

Constipation with colonic inertia. A manifestation of systemic disease?

Transit of radiopaque markers was delayed in the ascending colon of 51 females and 3 males treated for severe idiopathic constipation. Onset of symptoms was between age 10 and 20 in more than half of the patients. Eighteen percent had previously undergone unnecessary laparotomy for large bowel pseudoobstruction. Stool frequency ranged from 1 stool every three days to 1 every 2 months. Twenty-six percent suffered from fecal incontinence. In addition, 30% had orthostatic hypotension and 15% galactorrhea of idiopathic origin. Patients had a higher than normal anal pressure (P less than 0.001). They all had a rectoanal inhibitory reflex, but it was abnormal in 76%. In the upper esophageal sphincter, resting pressure was higher (P less than 0.02), and coordination poorer (P less than 0.05) than in normal control subjects. Incidence of spontaneous tertiary contractions in the body of the esophagus was greater than normal (P less than 0.03). In the lower esophageal sphincter, resting pressure was lower (P = 0.001) and gastroesophageal gradient weaker (P = 0.05). Closing pressure of the sphincter was lower (P less than 0.001) and coordination less adequate (P less than 0.02). After subcutaneous injection of 0.035 mg/kg bethanechol, urinary bladder intraluminal pressure increased by over 15 cm H2O in 31% of patients but never did in controls, and average maximal pressure was greater (P less than 0.025). Time taken to reach peak pressure was shorter (P less than 0.01). This study provides evidence that patients who suffer from constipation with colonic inertia also have abnormal function in other hollow viscera.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Therapeutic and diagnostic colonoscopy in nonobstructive colonic dilatation

Cecal perforation has been well established as a consequence of mechanical obstruction of the distal colon and has been estimated to occur in 1.5% to 7% of patients with colon obstruction. Perforation of the cecum also occurs in cases of nonobstructive colonic dilatation (NCD). Although the incidence is unknown, the mortality rate is nearly 50%. Over an eight-year period, 44 patients (mean age 59 years) underwent 52 colonoscopic examinations for presumed NCD. Twelve patients (27%) developed NCD while convalescing from a recent operation and 29 patients (66%) had major systemic disorders that preceded the development of NCD. Medical treatment for an average of 2.6 days was uniformly unsuccessful. Mean cecal diameter prior to colonoscopy was 12.8 cm (range 9.5 to 17 cm). Based on radiographic or clinical criteria, 38 patients (86%) were successfully decompressed on the initial colonoscopic examination; mean cecal diameter decreased to 8.7 cm (p less than 0.01). Perforation of the cecum during colonsocopy occurred in one patient (2%) who survived. Fourteen patients died; six deaths were attributed solely to the patient's who underwent operation. In summary, colonoscopy is a safe and effective therapeutic and diagnostic tool in cases of massive cecal dilatation. It should be considered before cecostomy in patients without radiographic evidence of pneumoperitoneum or clinical signs of peritoneal irritation.

Prolonged ileus with acute spinal cord injury responding to metaclopramide

This is a case report of an acute C-5 complete quadriplegic with prolonged ileus. The ileus resolved only after the administration of metoclopramide. Metoclopramide is a drug that increases gastrointestinal motility, has few significant side effects, and may be of use in decreasing the ileus associated with acute spinal cord injuries.

Small-intestinal mucosa in pseudoobstruction syndromes

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the frequency and severity of small intestinal mucosal damage in pseudoobstruction syndromes. One hundred eighty-nine interpretable biopsies from 12 patients were blindly reviewed by two investigators. The underlying disorders were scleroderma in 7 and idiopathic intestinal pseudoobstruction in 5. All 12 had small-intestinal dilatation on small-bowel series. Eight of the 12 patients had biopsies characterized by moderate to severe mucosal damage; 3 of these had some biopsies which were flat. The damage did not correlate with: (1) types and numbers of organisms recovered from small intestinal aspirates; (2) duration of illness; (3) degree of dilatation of the proximal small bowel; (4) concentrations of deconjugated bile salts in small intestinal fluid; or (5) amount of fat absorbed in fat-balance studies. We conclude that mucosal damage is common in pseudoobstruction syndromes. The pathogenesis of the damage and its relationship to intraluminal bacteria remain undefined.