Acupuncture: A Cure for Opioid-Induced Constipation (OIC)?
We’ve spent a lot of time talking about how acupuncture can be used to treat pain itself, either in lieu of, or in combination with more commonly prescribed opioid medications. But what about some of the very real, very unpleasant side effects of these drugs?
Amidst a battery of other negative side effects, opioid-induced constipation (often referred to as OIC) has long been a well-recognized but under-treated result of opioid use, with its effect on quality of life grossly under-acknowledged and thus, under-managed. Luckily, acupuncture has been proven to help with this too.
Why does it happen?
The gastrointestinal (GI) tract has been called a “second brain” for its extensive nervous network, and our naturally produced opioids (called endogenous opioids) are part of this system, and will often act to slow down the GI tract in their mission to maintain homeostatic gut function.
The trouble is, when we introduce exogenous opioids in the form of pain medication, this natural process is interrupted and prolonged. Since opioid pain medications bond to the same receptors as our naturally produced opioids (but the medication chemicals have longer lives), this slowing influence on the gut and bowels lasts longer than it should, causing constipation.
Since this type of constipation has different causes than other types, take a look at the graph below to judge whether you may be suffering from IOC.
How can acupuncture help?
Typically, laxatives and other medications are prescribed in concert with opioids to decrease the potential for OIC. But prescribing additional medications to shore up the side effects of others can get complicated and unpleasant. Taking regular laxatives is no one’s first choice, and doctors say that often, OIC is so disruptive to a patient’s quality of life that he will stop taking, or interrupt his prescribed schedule of opioids, in order to manage the discomfort of OIC. As you can imagine, this sort of mixing and matching of medications and dosages can have all sorts of harmful consequences. With acupuncture, these complications simply don’t exist.
In a study focusing on constipation in morphine-using cancer patients, positive results were found after five consecutive 30 minute acupuncture sessions using 30-gauge, 2-inch needles at bilateral ST 36 and ST 25 acupuncture points. What’s more, a systematic review published in 2009 investigating the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine for management of constipation showed positive outcomes across all three trails. Even the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN®) guidelines for adult cancer pain recommends the use of acupuncture in treatment for most cancer-related pain and opioid side effect management, including IOC.
The bottom line? Acupuncture works, and as a low to side-effect-free option for improving quality of life post cancer treatment, it would be foolish not to get in touch to see if you could be benefitting from its pain-relieving, side-effect mitigating impacts.
Call us today for a consultation and we’ll walk you through your options.
