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Can malignant bowel obstruction in advanced cancer patients be treated at home?

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Abstract

Eleven advanced cancer patients affected by malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) were treated at home with a combination of octreotide, metoclopramide, morphine, and dexamethasone. In all patients, we observed a prompt control of gastrointestinal symptoms and recovery of bowel movements within 1–5 days. Based on our results, a combination of drugs with different mechanisms of action allows an effective and safe treatment for MBO at home. Further studies with larger number of patients are warranted to confirm these preliminary data.

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Conflict of interest

All authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. L’Aquila per la Vita Home Care Unit, via Rocco Carabba, 10, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy

    Giampiero Porzio, Federica Aielli, Lucilla Verna, Brigida Galletti & Ghazaleh Shoja e Razavi

  2. Medical Oncology Unit, University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy

    Giampiero Porzio & Corrado Ficorella

Authors
  1. Giampiero Porzio
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  2. Federica Aielli
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  3. Lucilla Verna
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  4. Brigida Galletti
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  5. Ghazaleh Shoja e Razavi
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  6. Corrado Ficorella
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giampiero Porzio.

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Porzio, G., Aielli, F., Verna, L. et al. Can malignant bowel obstruction in advanced cancer patients be treated at home?. Support Care Cancer 19, 431–433 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-1009-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-010-1009-4

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