Systematic Review of Nonpharmacologic Approaches for the Management of Gastrointestinal Symptoms

Patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy experience as many as 14 treatment-related symptoms, with each additional symptom resulting in an increase in symptom distress (Spichiger et al., 2011; Thiagarajan et al., 2016). Symptom management studies tend to focus on the more prevalent symptoms related to cancer chemotherapy, which include pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbance, but gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms have been shown to contribute to high symptom burden in this population.