Review of Short Bowel Syndrome and Palliation: A Case Report and Medication Guideline

While patients with short bowel syndrome are not common in palliative care, they can present challenges for palliative care professionals. The case presented highlights a specific difficulty encountered. Many medications are poorly absorbed from a short bowel and alternative routes of administration need to be considered. A search was conducted to identify reviews, reports, and other articles from January 1960 to February 2004. MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Library) and MIMs (Medimedia Australia) databases were searched. A review of major textbooks was also conducted. Information on the site of absorption, time to peak plasma concentration, alternate routes, and pharmacokinetic information is summarized and presented in table form. This case report and review should assist practitioners with the palliative management of patients with short bowel syndrome.