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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Pharmacological management of cancer pain.

Cancer pain remains a major cause of suffering. Improvements in its management have made unrelieved cancer pain unacceptable. While pharmacotherapy is the mainstay of cancer pain treatment, other options such as radiotherapy, nerve blocks, etc., have to be considered as well. A comprehensive approach must also address psychosocial issues. A successful pharmacotherapy programme for cancer pain requires careful assessment of the origin and cause of the pain. The selection of analgesics has to be rationalised using a sequential approach such as the WHO stepladder. Oral application by the block in an individually titrated dosage is recommended. Although morphine remains the most useful opioid, it should be used in combination with nonopioids. Co-analgesics, which contribute to analgesia without being classical analgesics, should be used to treat pain of specific origin. Here membrane-stabilizers, antidepressants and steroids play an often underestimated role in the treatment of neurogenic pain. Anxiolytics and major tranquillisers should be avoided because they cause sedation without improving quality of analgesia. Calcitonin, diphosphonates and spasmolytics are of minor importance in this regard. Finally, concomitant medication to treat side effects of the therapy may be necessary in formulating a comprehensive treatment plan.

Analgesics↗
PubMed1992

Implementation of the American Pain Society Quality Assurance Standards for Relief of Acute Pain and Cancer Pain in oncology nursing practice.

Cancer pain represents a high-incidence problem that requires ongoing monitoring and evaluation. The recently published American Pain Society Quality Assurance Standards for Relief of Acute Pain and Cancer Pain provides an excellent basis for developing a quality assurance (QA) program in cancer pain assessment and management. These standards contain five critical areas for monitoring and evaluation related to cancer pain. The purpose of this article is to provide a useful framework for oncology nurses to develop a QA program in cancer pain assessment and management. The Oncology Nursing Society Position Paper on Cancer Pain and the American Nurses Association/Oncology Nursing Society Standards of Oncology Nursing Practice are incorporated into the framework to develop specific monitoring criteria. Practical suggestions are provided for implementing a QA program on cancer pain in a variety of oncology practice settings, using the standards of the American Pain Society.

Analgesics↗
PubMed1992

Administration of narcotics in cancer pain.

Cancer pain can be successfully managed with oral or parenteral narcotics in 80% of patients, if those factors that magnify pain perception are also controlled. Pain from any source can be made worse and pain tolerance impaired by depression, regression, intolerance to stress, and/or recurrent withdrawal, all of which require attention and management. Those patients whose cancer pain is still intractable may benefit from a procedure to interrupt pain pathways. Such procedures have become far less common since the introduction of chronic administration of intraspinal narcotics. The subarachnoid route is preferable to the epidural route because it is less likely to result in catheter failure and because much smaller doses can be used, with less systemic effect. In addition, tolerance can be managed more readily by readjustment of dose with the subarachnoid route, and there is no greater incidence of complications. Intraventricular narcotics can be considered in patients whose spinal canal does not allow catheter placement, at approximately 1/10th the spinal dose requirement.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1990

Has the analgesic efficacy of neurolytic celiac plexus block been demonstrated in pancreatic cancer pain?

Cancer of the pancreas is rising in incidence and will strike 27,000 Americans this year. There is no curative therapy for most patients, so palliation of symptoms should be the prime concern. Severe pain is very common, and often difficult to treat. Neurolytic celiac plexus block (NCPB) is claimed by some to be the most effective way to treat pancreatic cancer pain (PCP), yet only a minority of patients undergo this procedure. We have reviewed the literature on NCPB to determine if it has been adequately evaluated in the management of PCP. There have been 15 published series since 1964 on NCPB for PCP. A total of 480 patients with cancer of the pancreas were reported; at least a satisfactory response to NCPB was reported in 418 (87%). We found major deficiencies in these reports. None described the pre-NCPB analgesic history. Post-NCPB data were also limited. No information was given concerning post-NCPB analgesic dosages, and only 4 series stated that most patients did not require opiates. Information on whether NCPB was effective until death was lacking or incomplete in 12 series. Many claimed additional benefits of NCPB such as decreased nausea, decreased constipation, and increased appetite, but none provided any data to support these claims. We conclude that the data available on NCPB for PCP are insufficient to judge for efficacy, long-term morbidity, or cost effectiveness, and rigorous evaluation of the technique is required.

Analgesia↗
PubMed1992

Treating sickle cell pain like cancer pain.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of a structured analgesic regimen on hospital use by patients with sickle cell disease. INTERVENTION: Intravenous and oral controlled-release morphine was used instead of intramuscular meperidine and short-acting oral opioids for the treatment of sickle cell pain. DESIGN: Time series in which emergency and admission records for four 6-month periods before and two 6-month periods after the institution of the new analgesic protocol were reviewed. SETTING: Inner-city university hospital providing care for adults with sickle cell disease. PATIENTS: All patients (an average of 50) who used the emergency department of the inpatient medical service for treatment of sickle cell crisis during the study periods. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The number of admissions for sickle cell pain decreased by 44%, total inpatient days by 57%, length of hospital stay by 23%, and the number of emergency department visits by 67% after initiation of the morphine protocol. Hospital use remained at these lower levels one year later. Similar declines were seen for a subset of 15 patients who had a history of frequent admissions for sickle cell pain and who used this hospital exclusively and accounted for more than half of the admissions for sickle cell disease. CONCLUSIONS: A pain-control program modeled on regimens used to treat chronic cancer pain reduced hospital use by adult patients with sickle cell pain.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1991

Physician cancer pain education: a report from the Wisconsin Cancer Pain Initiative.

The Wisconsin Cancer Pain Initiative was established in 1986 to address the various public and professional barriers to cancer pain management. This report discusses the initiative's model for physician education, which includes increasing factual knowledge, legitimizing cancer pain as an important treatment priority, and developing clinical role models. Our progress in implementing this education model will be discussed.

Education, Medical↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Standards for monitoring quality of analgesic treatment of acute pain and cancer pain. American Pain Society Subcommittee on Quality Assurance Standards.

Hospital and chronic care facilities in the United States have active "quality assurance committees" that monitor selected outcomes of care, working toward steady improvement in results. In order to harness these existing mechanisms to improve pain treatment, the American Pain Society has drafted a set of standards that embody five key elements for favorably influencing behaviors of patients and clinicians: 1) ensuring that a report of unrelieved pain raises a "red flag" that clinicians cannot ignore; 2) putting information about analgesics conveniently at hand where orders are written; 3) promising patients responsive analgesic care and urging them to communicate pain; 4) providing policies and safeguards for the use of modern analgesic technologies; and 5) monitoring the facility's success in implementing these measures.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

Cancer Pain Assessment and Treatment Curriculum Guidelines. The Ad Hoc Committee on Cancer Pain of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

PURPOSE: More than 70% of patients with cancer develop significant pain at some time during the course of their illness. Despite the general consensus that most cancer pain can be treated effectively, many patients receive inadequate treatment of their pain. One significant contributing factor is the failure of health care professionals to receive formal training in this important aspect of oncology. The Cancer Pain Assessment and Treatment Curriculum Guidelines reflect the American Society of Clinical Oncology's commitment to providing optimal pain relief to patients with cancer. These guidelines represent an effort to promote formal instruction on the assessment and treatment of cancer pain in training programs and continuing education courses. DESIGN AND RESULTS: The curriculum is broad in scope and applicable to patients of all ages. The guidelines emphasize the need for (1) routine pain assessment, (2) proficiency in prescribing opioids, nonopioid analgesics, and adjuvant medications, and (3) an understanding of the potential benefits of antineoplastic, anesthetic, neurosurgical, and behavioral approaches, which often require a coordinated multidisciplinary approach. CONCLUSION: This curriculum should prove a valuable guide to those who wish further education on the optimal treatment of cancer pain.

Curriculum↗
PubMed1986

[Implantable continuous epidural morphine infusion system for relief of chronic cancer pain].

Chronic cancer pain remains intractable by standard treatment in many patients and interferes with their mobility and independence. Epidural morphine infusion therapy is adopted for providing adequate analgesia in patients who are generally morphine independent and have intractable pain. A totally implantable pump system, Infusaid, has allowed continuous epidural morphine infusion without wound care or frequent percutaneous injections and with a potentially lowered risk of adverse reactions including respiratory suppression. Since December 1984, the authors have used this totally implantable drug delivery system for continuous epidural morphine infusion in two patients who had been suffering from chronic pain caused by pelvic cancer associated with metastatic and/or invasive lesions: Case 1: a 61-year-old man with rectum cancer; and Case 2: a 44-year-old man with colon cancer. Before system implantation, a therapeutic response to epidural morphine was confirmed by a one-shot test injection. Pain relief was evaluated by use of Visual Pain Analogue Scale Scores (VPASS). In spite of the presence of an artificial anus on the left abdomen in both patients and of pus discharge from a sacral infectious fistula on admission in Case 2, no infectious complication occurred in either case. Urinary retention developed after the implantation in Case 2, but this improved following the reduction of morphine concentration. No other adverse reaction was observed. In Case 1, the system was effective for 6 months until his death from advancing malignancy, and the patient was able to return to work three months after discharge.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗