Hi, I'm Cathy with Level Up RN. In this video, I'm going to wrap up my coverage of gastrointestinal
medications, including IBS medications, gastrointestinal anti-inflammatory medications,
and pancreatic enzymes. At the end of the video, I'm going to provide you guys
a quick quiz to test your knowledge of some of the facts I'll be covering in this video,
so definitely stay tuned for that. If you have our pharmacology, second edition flashcards,
definitely pull those out, so you can follow along. I won't be covering every
single medication or fact in these flashcards, but I'll definitely try to hit the highlights.
Let's begin with our irritable bowel syndrome medications or IBS medications.
IBS can cause diarrhea or constipation or sometimes a combination of both. So
one IBS medication to know is Alosetron. Alosetron is used for IBS with diarrhea,
and it works by increasing the firmness of the stool and decreasing the sense of urgency to
defecate. The key side effect with this medication is constipation. And in fact, this medication has
a black-box warning due to the complications of constipation and the risk for ischemic colitis.
Another IBS medication is lubiprostone. And lubiprostone is used for IBS with constipation.
So it works by increasing fluid secretion in the intestine and increasing intestinal motility.
Side effects can include diarrhea, nausea, and headache. So the way I remember these medications
and our little cool chicken hint here on the card is that Alosetron, which is spelled A-L-O-S-E
is for loose stools, and lubiprostone, which ends in that stone is for stone-like poop,
so constipation. So hopefully that tip is helpful for you as well.
Next, we have sulfasalazine, which is a GI anti-inflammatory medication. It can be used
to treat irritable bowel syndrome. It can also be used to treat irritable bowel diseases such
as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It works by inhibiting prostaglandins synthesis,
which helps to decrease inflammation in the colon. Side effects can include blood dyscracias. So this
includes anemia as well as agranulocytosis. So agranulocytosis is where we have a decrease in
the number of granulocyte, which are a type of white blood cell. Other side effects can include
GI upset, rash, headache, crystal urea, and fever. So some important patient teaching we want to do
for a patient on sulfasalazine is that this medication may cause orange-yellow discoloration
of their urine and or skin. Also, we're going to want to monitor their CBC levels during therapy
due to that risk of blood dyscracias. Next, we have pancreatic enzymes,
including pancrelipase. Pancrelipase is used when a patient has pancreatic
insufficiency due to a disorder such as cystic fibrosis or pancreatitis, or if they've had GI
bypass surgery. So the pancreas plays an important role in digestion, right? It brings digestive
enzymes into the intestine. So if our pancreas isn't working well, then our intestines are not
getting those digestive enzymes. So this is where this medication comes in. It is there to help with
digestion of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. So side effects of this medication can include
diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal pain. We want to provide teaching for our patients because they
need to take this medication immediately before or with their meals and snacks to allow for that
for that digestion. Also, we want to advise our patients to swallow the pills whole,
so they should not crush them. If they have difficulty swallowing the pills, you can open
up the capsules and kind of sprinkle them on apple sauce, and they can take it that way.
So our cool chicken hint for remembering this medication. If you look at the medication name, it
is pancrelipase, and it starts with that pancre, which helps you to remember the pancreas, and that
this medication is used when the pancreas isn't getting its job done right. All right, so that is
it for our GI medications, and are you guys ready for your quiz? I have three questions for you.
First question. What IBS medication carries the risk for constipation and ischemic colitis?
The answer is Alosetron. Second question. What medication is
used to improve digestion in patients with cystic fibrosis?
The answer is pancrelipase. Third question. When should pancrelipase be taken?
Answer is should be taken immediately before or with meals and snacks. Okay. I hope this
video has been helpful. Hope you're enjoying these little quizzes at the end of the video.
If so, be sure to leave me a comment and be sure to like this video as well. Take care.
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