What is Alvimopan used for?
Last updated September 7, 2026.
**Alvimopan helps your bowel recover faster after surgery that removes part of your bowel and reconnects the remaining ends.** It blocks the bowel-slowing effects of opioid pain medicines, helping you return to eating solid food and passing stool. You receive it only in the hospital, starting before surgery, with no more than 15 doses total. Your surgeon must review your recent opioid use because taking opioids for more than seven consecutive days immediately beforehand rules out alvimopan. Follow your surgical team's instructions for eating, drinking, and moving during recovery.
What to do
- **Review your medicines:** Tell your surgeon which opioid medicines you have taken recently and for how long.
- **Share your medical history:** Tell your care team about bowel blockages, kidney or liver disease, pregnancy, or breastfeeding.
- **Understand the limit:** You receive no more than 15 doses in the hospital because prolonged use carries a potential heart attack risk.
- **Follow your recovery plan:** Follow your surgical team's instructions about when to eat, drink, and walk.
- **Report symptoms:** Tell your hospital team promptly if you develop worsening belly pain, vomiting, or diarrhea.
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