Question
60 yr old male with lower back surgery-5th day without BM-is this common?is use of suppository a problem?no other health concern

Answer
Dear Mr.Torres,

Absence of bowel movements after spine surgery is quite common. The most common reason is called paralytic ileus, in which the bowels stop their contractile movement which is responsible for pushing ingested food forward. There might be other reasons too, but if the patient is generally comfortable, and no signs of bowel obstruction are present, the only treatment is to wait for nature to take its course.

Sincerely,

Dr. N. Rahamimov