The possible reasons for middle-aged people not having bowel movements for several days include functional constipation, intestinal obstruction, tumor, and medication, and the solutions include lifestyle adjustments, medication, and surgical treatments.
1. If the patient is suffering from functional constipation, the solutions include adjusting dietary habits, lifestyle and medication. Eat more food containing more fiber, such as celery, small greens, banana, etc.; avoid staying up late, drink more water, moderate exercise, and massage the abdomen clockwise before going to bed to promote gastrointestinal dynamics; laxative drugs, such as lactulose, aloe vera capsule, etc., can also be used for treatment.
2. If the patient stops defecation for several days, it should be suspected as intestinal obstruction, and need to go to the hospital immediately for examination, and improve the abdominal flat film or abdominal CT if necessary; if it is incomplete intestinal obstruction, it can be solved by enema and other treatments; if it is complete intestinal obstruction, it needs to be surgically treated.
3. If the patient suffers from tumor, he needs to go to the hospital to further evaluate whether there is intestinal metastasis. Lactulose, keserol, retention enema and other treatments can be used temporarily; if the effect is not good, surgery is needed if necessary.
4. Some drugs can also cause constipation, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., ibuprofen, aspirin), acid-suppressing drugs (e.g., omeprazole, ranitidine), anticholinergics (e.g., atropine, sclerocortin), antidepressants (e.g., fluoxetine, sertraline), etc. Constipation can be relieved after discontinuing the above drugs.
If the patient stops defecation and combined with symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, nausea and vomiting, it is recommended to go to the hospital immediately to avoid delaying the condition. All related medications should be used under the guidance of a doctor and should not be taken by oneself.