The role of physiotherapy in palliative care for the relief of constipation — a case report

Constipation is a common symptom in patients with advanced cancer and if left untreated it could greatly reduce a patient’s quality of life. There are many potential causes of constipation for a patient with advanced cancer. In this article the authors present the case of an advanced cancer patient suffering from constipation whose symptoms were successfully treated with various forms of physiotherapy, such as abdominal massage, myofascial release techniques (MFR) and exercises, in addition to laxatives prescribed earlier. The authors proved that physiotherapy applied in patients being provided with palliative care is of great importance to the process of the constipation treatment. Adv. Pall. Med. 2010; 9, 2: 45–48Constipation is a common symptom in patients with advanced cancer and if left untreated it could greatly reduce a patient’s quality of life. There are many potential causes of constipation for a patient with advanced cancer. In this article the authors present the case of an advanced cancer patient suffering from constipation whose symptoms were successfully treated with various forms of physiotherapy, such as abdominal massage, myofascial release techniques (MFR) and exercises, in addition to laxatives prescribed earlier. The authors proved that physiotherapy applied in patients being provided with palliative care is of great importance to the process of the constipation treatment. Adv. Pall. Med. 2010; 9, 2: 45–4