Effect of Naloxegol on Postoperative Ileus in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

Summary

Postoperative ileus, defined as the transient postoperative functional inhibition of propulsive bowel activity, commonly occurs in patients after cardiac surgery and contributes to postoperative morbidity. Naloxegol is a peripheral opioid receptor antagonist. Recent studies showed that naloxegol is effective in the treatment of chronic opioid-induced constipation but there is no data on its use in the management of postoperative ileus after cardiac surgery. The main objective of this prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial is to assess the effectiveness of the perioperative use of naloxegol in reducing the duration of the postoperative ileus in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Timeline

Start

2020-10-14

Primary completion

2022-01-28

Completion

2022-03-03

Outcome

Missed primary endpoint

paper Time-to-transit recovery did not differ between Naloxegol group and placebo (76.0, [IQR 69.3-93.5] vs. 78.3, [IQR 70.0-95.8] h, p value = 0.40). PMID 39988233 ↗

paper Naloxegol was not found to be effective in improving the transit time recovery after elective cardiac surgery. PMID 39988233 ↗

Publications

• Results Laghlam D, Gibert H, Merzoug M, Leclerc D, Coroyer L, Estagnasie P, Squara P, Nguyen LS, Geri G. Effects of naloxegol on transit recovery in patients undergoing cardiac surgery: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Anaesth Crit Care Pain Med. 2025 Apr;44(2):101498. doi: 10.1016/j.accpm.2025.101498. Epub 2025 Feb 21.

Drugs

Evaluation	Drug	Modality	Dose	Route
Subject	Naloxegol	Unknown	25 mg	Oral

Indications