Opioid-induced Lower Esophageal Sphincter Dysfunction

2015

The adverse gastrointestinal effects of opioids have been extensively described in medical literature.1 Their effect takes place mainly on the enteric nervous system, through receptors in the myenteric and submucosal plexuses. There are 3 recognized main opium receptors (μ, δ, and κ) that are expressed in the central and enteric nervous systems, which mediate the gastrointestinal effects.2 The mainly studied adverse gastrointestinal effect of opioids is constipation, due to the greater understanding of opium receptor physiology in the colon.3 However their effect on esophageal motility has seldom been studied. Our study’s objective was to assess esophageal motility, using high-resolution ma…