What is your stepwise approach to treating constipation in a patient with symptoms such as abdominal pain, nausea, decreased appetite, etc?

For patients that are symptomatic, I favor more aggressive management, often starting with polyethylene glycol (preferred) or another osmotic agent as first line. I will also usually supplement this with some sort of management from "below" but will usually discuss with the patient and nursing wheth...

With those symptoms, I find it best to be aggressive given what sounds like potential inability to tolerate enteral nutrition/meds. If that's the case, I would consider admission for a bowel clean out (using PEG and probably also something per rectum like an enema or suppository). Certainly I would ...