NCT00902031

Effectiveness of Docusate in Preventing/Treating Constipation in Palliative Care Patients

Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Docusate for Preventing/Treating Constipation in Palliative Care Patients.

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 70 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Alberta · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if docusate is effective in the treatment of constipation in palliative care patients.

Detailed description

Palliative patients frequently experience constipation due to multiple factors - structural abnormalities, medications, metabolic disturbances, neurological disorders, and other general conditions. Docusate is a stool softener that has been widely used, in combination with other stimulating laxatives, to prevent and treat constipation in palliative care patients. In the past decade there has been controversy about its effectiveness in these populations, but no controlled trials have been conducted on the use of docusate in palliative patients. The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of docusate in preventing and treating constipation in palliative care patients. The study design is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to compare the current standard treatment (docusate in combination with a laxative, sennoside) to that of a sennoside laxative alone. A total of 70 patients (35 in each group) will be recruited from the Palliative Care Unit at St. Joseph's Auxiliary Care Hospital, the Mel Miller Hospice at the Edmonton General Continuing Care Hospital, and CapitalCare Norwood in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Patients must be ≥ 18 years of age, able to take oral medication, without difficulty swallowing, have a palliative performance ≥ 20%, and do not have a stoma. The duration of treatment will be for 10 days. The main outcome measures will include bowel frequency, stool consistency, other interventions (suppositories, enemas), difficulty defecating, and sense of inability to evacuate completely. This study will provide insight into the effectiveness of docusate in preventing and treating constipation in palliative patients who are cared for by family physicians and specialized palliative care providers. If docusate is found to have no added benefit,it has the potential to enhance the quality of life for palliative care patients by reducing the number of medications taken and reducing the palliative care team's (e.g. nursing) workload and cost.

Conditions

• Constipation
• Palliative Care

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	Docusate Sodium, Sennoside	Docusate sodium: given in capsule form (100 mg/capsule), at a dosage of 200 mg, taken twice daily for 10 days. Sennoside: will be given in tablet form (8.6 mg), 1-3 tablets taken 1-3 times daily for 10 days.
DRUG	Sennoside + Placebo	Sennoside: will be given in tablet form (8.6 mg), 1-3 tablets taken 1-3 times daily for 10 days. Placebo: will be taken in capsule form, similar in size, shape, and color to docusate, taken twice daily for 10 days

Timeline

• Start date: 2006-04-01
• Primary completion: 2010-10-01
• Completion: 2010-10-01
• First posted: 2009-05-14
• Last updated: 2011-04-20

Locations

3 sites across 1 country: Canada