Dr Gerald Sacks, MD, Pain Institute of Santa Monica, explains the unmet needs in the management of Opioid Induced Constipation. He discusses the unmet needs and the future treatment landscape in managing OIC. According to him, there is a general awareness that OIC is common and can be prevented and treated effectively using medications.

He further states that various practitioners, health care professionals, and PAs either do not have the time or do not have the knowledge base to effectively discuss OIC. Dr Sacks spends a significant amount of his time in educating people that when they are being prescribed opioids for pain management, it is most likely that they will develop OIC. In such scenario, the practitioners have the medications that can effectively address and treat the problem. One such medication is peripherally acting µ-opioid receptor antagonist that is designed to treat OIC. When it is taken on a daily basis, it can prevent it.

Overall, according to Dr Gerald Sacks, the greatest unmet need is lack of education as well as lack of time for the health care professionals to have an in-depth discussion with the patient.

About Dr Gerald Sacks

Considering additional treatment options for OIC management, Dr Gerald Sacks opines that although the appropriate balanced nutrition with appropriate vegetables, fruit, and dietary fiber helps prevent OIC [opioid-induced constipation] and other types of constipation, it is equally important to be as active as the patients are permitted to be. If the patients are physically active, it maintains the whole body’s homeostasis, including the bowel movements.