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Background: Despite national recommendations for treatment of constipation, prescribing patterns for treatment are inconsistent, and health care utilization has increased., Objective: To identify patterns in pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment of constipation and associations between treatment and other variables across age groups., Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study that used the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) to compare prescribing from 2000 to 2004 and from 2005 to 2009. Treatment patterns for constipation, irritable bowel syndrome-related constipation (IBS-C), and opioid-induced constipation were considered., Results: From 2000 to 2009, there were 89.6 million office visits related to constipation: 63.4 million for constipation alone, 28.2 million for IBS-C alone, and 3.7 million for opioid-induced constipation. For constipation, there was an overall decrease in the prescription of combination therapy (17% vs. 11%, P  less than  0.05); an increase in the prescription of medication monotherapy (21% vs. 29%, P  less than  0.05); decreases in the use of lubricants (9% vs. 2%, P  less than  0.05) and saline (7% vs. 1%, P  less than   0.001) among patients aged less than  18 years; a decrease in combination therapy (31% vs. 17%, P  less than  0.05); and age group differences in the prescription of specific medications. For IBS-C and opioid-induced constipation, there were no changes in major treatment category or specific medication. Age, gender, race, ethnicity, payer source, physician specialty, and region were all found to be associated with treatment choice., Conclusions: Health care utilization for constipation increased, and prescribing patterns shifted significantly from 2000 to 2009 for constipation and IBS-C. Patterns in treatment were significantly influenced by many factors, including age, gender, and race. Changes in treatment categories over time included a decrease in combination therapy for patients aged less than  18 years and an increase in medication monotherapy for all ages, which are in contrast to national recommendations.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a complex syndrome that is difficult to manage. Here we present the evidence supporting medication treatments for specific IBS symptoms, discuss evidence-based management of IBS with medications including dose regimens and adverse effects and review progress on research for new IBS treatments., Summary: Currently, there is evidence to support improvements in specific IBS symptoms following treatment with loperamide, psyllium, bran, lubiprostone, linaclotide, amitriptyline, trimipramine, desipramine, citalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, dicyclomine, peppermint oil, rifaximin, ketotifen, pregabalin, gabapentin and octreotide and there are many new medications being investigated for the treatment of IBS. Key Message: Of the medications with demonstrated improvements for IBS symptoms, rifaximin, lubiprostone, linaclotide, fiber supplementation and peppermint oil have the most reliable evidence supporting their use for the treatment of IBS. Onset of efficacy for the various medications has been noted to be as early as 6 days after initiation; however, the efficacy of most medications was not assessed prospectively at predefined periods. Additional studies of currently available and new medications are ongoing and are needed to better define their place in therapy and expand therapeutic options for the treatment of IBS. The most promising new medications for IBS include a variety of novel pharmacologic approaches, most notably the dual μ-opioid receptor agonist and δ-opioid antagonist, JNJ-27018966., (© 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

What Is Known and Objective: The complexity and diversity of irritable bowel syndrome's (IBS) presentation make treatment difficult. Although there are reviews and guidelines for treating IBS, they focus on the efficacy of medications for IBS symptoms using high-priority endpoints, leaving those of lower priority largely unreported. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive evidence-based review of the efficacy of medications to treat IBS symptoms, reported by IBS subtype, including secondary symptom endpoints that are often underreported., Methods: A review of PubMed for articles published through December 2009 using the keywords: 'irritable bowel syndrome', 'therapeutics', 'antidiarrhoeals', 'laxatives', 'loperamide', 'dietary fibre', 'psyllium', 'calcium polycarbophil', 'bulking agents', 'lubiprostone', 'antidepressant agents, tricyclics' and its representative entities, 'serotonin reuptake inhibitors' and its representative entities, 'dicyclomine', hyoscyamine', 'peppermint oil', 'parasympatholytics' and its representative entities, 'rifaximin', 'pregabalin', 'gabapentin', 'clonidine', 'octreotide', 'atropine' and 'probiotics' is provided. Placebo-controlled trials were evaluated for the strength of evidence supporting the efficacy of each medication for explicit IBS symptoms. The efficacy of each medication for the symptoms of abdominal pain, bloating, stool form, mucus, urgency, feeling of incomplete evacuation, flatulence, frequency, or borborgymi and overall symptoms are reported by IBS subtype., Results and Discussion: The literature search identified 58 placebo-controlled trials of the efficacy of medications for treating IBS symptoms, which were critically evaluated and reported. The available studies suggest improvement in various IBS symptoms with loperamide, fibre supplements, lubiprostone, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin receptor inhibitors (SSRIs), antispasmotics, rifaximin, pregabalin, gabapentin, clonidine, octreotide and probiotic treatments., What Is New and Conclusion: This review is the first to compile the available evidence on the efficacy of the various pharmacological treatments for IBS on the basis of IBS subtype and specific symptoms. This evidence is limited and more well-designed studies are required to better inform therapeutic decision-making in the management of this difficult syndrome., (© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)