Drug Aids Abdominal Surgery Patients

The use of an investigational drug has shown that it helps patients recover bowel function more quickly after abdominal surgery, leading to less postoperative illness and quicker discharge from the hospital. The results were reported in the September 27, 2001, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

The drug, ADL 8-2698, blocks the actions of morphine and other opioids in the intestines without inhibiting their ability to relieve pain. The research, involving 78 patients, was conducted by anesthesiologists at Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, MO, USA). The patients had undergone either colectomy or hysterectomy. One group of 26 patients received placebo, a second group of 26 received a 1 mg dose of the new drug, and a third group of 26 received a 6 mg dose of the drug.

Patients who received 6 mg reported no greater pain and did not receive more pain medication, but they did have much quicker recovery of bowel function. The time to first bowel movement declined from 111 hours in the placebo group to 70 in the 6 mg group, while hospital stay decreased from 91 hours to 68 hours. Patients who received the 6 mg dose also had significant decreases in nausea and vomiting following surgery.

"There are many drugs that antagonize opioids, but most of them also cross into the brain, too,” noted Andrea Kurz, M.D., assistant professor and principal investigator in the study. "That limits the analgesic effects of the opioids, and patients end up having pain.”