Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) delivery is a therapeutic option for patients with severe spasticity not responding to common oral medications, such as baclofen, dantrolene or tizanidine. At common doses, ITB is usually tolerated by patients . Unfortunately, higher doses could be necessary to treat many cases of spasticity, thus enhancing the frequency of side effects 2-4. Concerning gastrointestinal function, ITB could affect peristalsis, which could be severely slowed down to paralytic ileus. Nevertheless, constipation has previously been reported as an infrequent ITB-induced adverse effect, ranging from 3 to 10 of treated patients 2-4. Here we report that, in our series of patients treated with ITB, constipation was a frequent and serious side effect, leading to death in 1 case.
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