title: Normal bowel function restored after oxygen therapy in systemic sclerosis and colonic inertia.
abstract: Colorectal involvement with obstructed defecation is a common complication of progressive systemic sclerosis (pSSc), compromising quality of life and placing patients at risk for life-threatening complications. Treatment for colonic inertia in these patients includes laxatives, prokinetics, and ultimately colectomy, which is associated with high morbidity and mortality in pSSc. We describe a woman with scleroderma and colonic inertia recommended for total abdominal colectomy. As a result of respiratory decompensation, she was placed on oxygen by nasal cannula, after which bowel motility with regularity was restored, obviating the need for colectomy.
authors.affiliation: Section of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. saketkoo.md@gmail.com
authors.forename: Lesley Ann
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Saketkoo
authors.forename: Luis R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Espinoza
mesh_terms: D003248:Constipation / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D003672:Defecation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome