Alvimopan: an oral, peripherally acting, mu-opioid receptor antagonist for the treatment of opioid-induced bowel dysfunction--a 21-day treatment-randomized clinical trial.

Alvimopan has been shown to reverse the inhibitory effect of opioids on gastrointestinal transit without affecting analgesia. We evaluated oral alvimopan, 0.5 or 1 mg, versus placebo, once daily for 21 days, in 168 patients with opioid-induced bowel dysfunction (OBD) who were receiving chronic opioid therapy (minimum, 1 month) for nonmalignant pain (n = 148) or opioid dependence (n = 20).

A smoking-cessation program consisting of extensive counseling, pharmacotherapy, and office spirometry: results of a pilot project in a Veterans Administration Medical Center.

Study Objective: To describe the 1-year outcomes of a Veterans Administration smoking-cessation program that demonstrates a standard of care comprising extensive counseling, pharmacotherapy, and office spirometry.

Design: Prospective one-group pretest-posttest, with an intervention of state-of-the-art practice in smoking cessation.

Setting: Outpatient clinic in a Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC).

Evaluation of a low-dose lidocaine iontophoresis system for topical anesthesia in adults and children: a randomized, controlled trial.

Background: Commonly used classes of topical anesthetics require 30 to 60 minutes to provide effective anesthesia. A new low-dose lidocaine iontophoresis system (LDLIS) may provide topical anesthesia in 10 minutes at a lower dose than previous systems, thereby limiting adverse events.

Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial.

Efficacy trial of live, cold-adapted and inactivated influenza virus vaccines in older adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a VA cooperative study.

We assessed whether trivalent live, cold-adapted influenza virus (CAIV-T) vaccine provides added protection when co-administered with trivalent inactivated influenza virus vaccine (TVV) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Subjects (N=2215) were randomly assigned to receive either TVV intramuscularly (IM) and CAIV-T intranasally (TC), or TVV and placebo (TP). The vaccines were well-tolerated.