Pain management of the oncologic patient

After the first 5 years of life, cancer is one of the three most common causes of death. Most investigations of cancer pain have shown that 50-70% of patients suffer needlessly. Pain may be due to the tumor or a co-existant benign pain syndrome. Methods of pain management include: 1) neurolytic blockade: stellate ganglion block, celiac plexus block, lumbar sympathetic block, epidural phenol, subarachnoid neurolysis; and 2) non-pharmacologic methods: radiofrequency thermocoagulation lumbar sympathectomy, transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS), dorsal column stimulation (DCS). In summary, we utilize every possible combination of therapeutic modalities for cancer pain management. With so many safe procedures available, we encourage the primary physician to refer patients early in their disease process. Neurolytic procedures should be performed prior to initiation of high dose narcotic therapy, radiation, chemotherapy, and surgery when possible.     

Les principaux syndromes douloureux liés au cancer

Pains associated with cancer are multiple, with various physiopathological origins and imply various aetiologies. Individual detection and understanding of each of these pains is fundamental since they necessitate treatments that may differ. Pain related to the tumour process and its locoregional progression must be distinguished from the iatrogenic pain related to the diagnostic or therapeutic procedures and that occur less immediately, the sequellar pain related to the side effects of the treatments, which cause discomfort unrelated to the cancer itself.     

Management of pain in the older person with cancer. Part 2: treatment options

Pain in older cancer patients is a common event, and many times it is undertreated. Barriers to cancer pain management in the elderly include concerns about the use of medications, the atypical manifestations of pain in the elderly, and side effects related to opioid and other analgesic drugs. The care of older cancer patients experiencing pain involves a comprehensive assessment, which includes evaluation for conditions that may exacerbate or be exacerbated by pain, affecting its expression, such as emotional and spiritual distress, disability, and comorbid conditions. It is important to use appropriate tools to evaluate pain and other symptoms that can be related to it. Pain in older cancer patients should be managed in an interdisciplinary environment using pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions whose main goals are decreasing suffering and improving quality of life. In this two-part article, the authors present a review of the management of pain in older cancer patients, emphasizing the roles of adequate assessment and a multidisciplinary team approach.     

Management of pain in the older person with cancer

Pain in older cancer patients is a common event, and many times it is undertreated. Barriers to cancer pain management in the elderly include concerns about the use of medications, the atypical manifestations of pain in the elderly, and side effects related to opioid and other analgesic drugs. The care of older cancer patients experiencing pain involves a comprehensive assessment, which includes evaluation for conditions that may exacerbate or be exacerbated by pain, affecting its expression, such as emotional and spiritual distress, disability, and comorbid conditions. It is important to use appropriate tools to evaluate pain and other symptoms that can be related to it. Pain in older cancer patients should be managed in an interdisciplinary environment using pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions whose main goals are decreasing suffering and improving quality of life. In this two-part article, the authors present a review of the management of pain in older cancer patients, emphasizing the roles of adequate assessment and a multidisciplinary team approach.     

6th International Symposium and Expert Workshops on Leukemia and Lymphoma

Pain is a prominent feature of multiple myeloma (MM) and may be caused by different underlying causes and mechanisms. Indeed, pain may be due to disease-related complications, iatrogenic causes or may be associated with other unrelated medical conditions. This symptom may be particularly devastating and can negatively affect the quality of life of the afflicted patients and their functional status. For most MM patients suffering from continuous nociceptive pain, the WHO’s three-step analgesic ladder can provide adequate relief with oral options, although the high prevalence in MM patients of difficult-to-treat pains, such as pains due to skeletal mechanical instability or sustained by neuropathic mechanisms, makes the treatment approach a challenging concern. The management of pain in this setting requires a multidisciplinary approach integrating analgesics and causal interventions. This review focuses on the most common syndromes afflicting MM patients, attempting to provide an understanding of the underlying pain mechanisms and a discussion of the most commonly used treatment strategies.     

Interventional therapies for cancer pain management: important adjuvants to systemic analgesics

Optimized use of systemic analgesics fails to adequately control pain in some patients with cancer. Commonly used analgesics, including opioids, nonopioids (acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), and adjuvant analgesics (anticonvulsants and antidepressants), have limited analgesic efficacy, and their use is often associated with adverse effects. Without adequate pain control, patients with cancer not only experience the anguish of poorly controlled pain but also have greatly diminished quality of life and may even have reduced life expectancy. Interventional pain therapies are a diverse set of procedural techniques for controlling pain that may be useful when systemic analgesics fail to provide adequate control of cancer pain or when the adverse effects of systemic analgesics cannot be managed reasonably. Commonly used interventional therapies for cancer pain include neurolytic neural blockade, spinal administration of analgesics, and vertebroplasty. Compared with systemic analgesics, which generally have broad indications for control of pain, individual interventional therapies generally have specific, narrow indications. When appropriately selected and implemented, interventional pain therapies are important components of broad, multimodal cancer pain management that significantly increases the proportion of patients able to experience adequate pain control.     

The pharmacological treatment of bone pain

Bone pain is the commonest type of pain in cancer patients. A systematic but simple approach to the use of analgesic and adjuvant drugs, in conjunction with more specific tumoricidal treatments, is usually successful in relieving bone pain. An opioid analgesic in adequate dose in conjunction with various co-analgesics is the cornerstone of symptomatic drug treatment. Incident (movement-related) pain may be difficult to control and may necessitate the use of physical aids or changes in lifestyle in addition to the usual pain-relieving measures.     

Nutritional support and quality of life in cancer patients undergoing palliative care

PREVOST V. & GRACH M.-C. (2012) European Journal of Cancer Care21, 581-590 Nutritional support and quality of life in cancer patients undergoing palliative care In palliative care, the nutrition provided has to be tailored to the patient's needs, enhancing patient comfort and quality of life (QoL). We conducted a literature search to review methods of measuring QoL, and modalities of nutritional intervention and their influence on QoL of cancer patients in palliative care. Original papers published in English were selected from PubMed database by using the search terms, palliative medicine, cancer, nutrition and quality of life. Specific tools that are particularly recommended to assess QoL in a palliative care setting are reviewed. The main goal in palliative care is to maintain oral nutrition by providing nutritional counselling. Enteral nutritional support showed inconsistent effects on survival and QoL. An evidence-base for parenteral nutrition is still lacking. Ethical considerations concerning provision of food and hydration in end-of-life care are discussed. Nutritional status should be assessed early and regularly during treatment using appropriate tools. In the particularly acute context of palliative care, optimal patient management requires adequate education and counselling to patients and families. Meaningful interactions between the patient, caregivers and medical team would also increase the chance of resolving nutrition-related issues and help to fulfil each patient's specific nutritional needs and thus improve the QoL.     

Opioid analgesics in cancer pain: current practice and controversies

Pain is a complex somato psychic experience that requires a multimodality approach to treatment. Pharmacologically, pain in cancer can be divided into opioid non-responsive, opioid partially responsive, opioid responsive (but do not use opioids) and opioid responsive (do use opioids). Three concepts govern the use of analgesics in opioid responsive pains: 'by the mouth', 'by the clock' and 'by the ladder'. Adjuvant drugs may also be necessary. Morphine is the strong opioid of choice for cancer pain. In patients unable to take oral medication, morphine can be administered by suppository, by injection or peridurally. Useful alternative strong opioids include phenazocine, hydromorphone and buprenorphine. A number of controversial issues are discussed. These include the oral to parenteral potency ratio of morphine; the main site of metabolism of morphine; the relative merits of morphine and diamorphine; the risk of respiratory depression; the development of tolerance; and the risk of addiction.     

Optimal pain management for patients with cancer in the modern era

Pain is a common symptom among patients with cancer. Adequate pain assessment and management are critical to improve the quality of life and health outcomes in this population. In this review, the authors provide a framework for safely and effectively managing cancer‐related pain by summarizing the evidence for the importance of controlling pain, the barriers to adequate pain management, strategies to assess and manage cancer‐related pain, how to manage pain in patients at risk of substance use disorder, and considerations when managing pain in a survivorship population. CA Cancer J Clin 2018;68:182–196 . © 2018 American Cancer Society .     

Progress of cancer pain management in Korea

Cancer pain management had received relatively little attention until the late 1990s, when approximately 100,000 new cancer cases and 60,000 cancer deaths occurred each year in Korea. In 2001, a Cancer Pain Management Guideline was prepared for the first time by the Korean Society of Hospice and Palliative Care. This guideline facilitated cancer pain management by health professionals since then. In addition, cancer pain management has been included in the regular curriculum of all medical schools in Korea. The Korean Cancer Pain Assessment Tool, which was developed in 2003, has been accepted as a reliable and valid instrument for assessing cancer pain in Korea. The Korean version of quality of life assessment tools has also been accepted as a useful method. Oral short-acting opioids became available, along with other effective and convenient opioid drugs. The Korean government first published the Cancer Pain Management Guideline for health care professionals in 2004 and expanded the medical reimbursement criteria for cancer pain management, which reflect the government's support and interest in cancer pain care. The cancer pain surveys conducted in 2001 and 2006 demonstrated a significantly increased patient satisfaction on pain control (37% in 2001, n = 3,006 vs. 42% in 2006, n = 3,737, p = 0.003). Therefore, cancer pain management has been systematically approached both by health professionals as well as the government and resulted in a vast improvement in cancer pain control.     

背根神经节在骨癌痛中的研究进展

癌症引起的疼痛是严重的慢性疼痛之一,而骨转移性癌痛困扰着大部分晚期癌症患者。脊髓背根神经节(dorsal root ganglion,DRG)无论在解剖学结构还是功能学位置均位于外周和中枢神经系统的交界处,具有传导和调节内脏感觉的作用,在骨转移性癌痛的发生及发展中扮演重要角色。全文综述了关于DRG在骨癌痛研究的最新文献,以期阐明两者的关系有助于寻找治疗或缓解癌症疼痛的有效措施。     

Evidence-based approaches to pain in advanced cancer

Pain is a source of suffering in most advanced cancer patients, but many effective treatments exist. We updated previous systematic reviews on cancer pain treatment with targeted literature searches. Addressing pain involves comprehensive assessment, including other symptoms and sources of distress and barriers to pain management, and investigating potential etiologies and oncological emergencies when potential benefits exceed burdens. Initial treatment may involve acetaminophen or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents, although opioids should be considered quickly if not effective or for severe pain. The initial approach also includes education and psychosocial interventions as appropriate. Neuropathic pain and bony pain may require specific interventions if initial treatment is not effective; the best evidence supports the use of gabapentin and single-fraction radiation, respectively. Potential spinal cord compression requires urgent evaluation and treatment. Most cancer pain can be effectively addressed with an evidence-based approach of medications, nonpharmacological approaches, and interventions when appropriate.     

Surgical instrumentation as a palliative treatment for spinal cord compression

This paper describes a surgical procedure occasionally used to ameliorate symptoms caused by spinal cord compression in patients with metastatic cancer. After decompression of the spinal cord, Luque instrumentation has been effectively used to stabilize the spine and provide pain relief. Two malleable rods are fixed to the spine by sublaminal wires to several healthy laminae above and below the site of the metastatic lesions. Pre- and postoperative nursing care involves constant assessment to detect early neuromuscular and autonomic functional changes. Effective pain management is crucial to the patient's well-being. This surgery does not alter a patient's prognosis but can dramatically affect quality of life.     

Management of fatigue in the cancer patient

Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients with cancer and other progressive diseases. Although reported to be a major obstacle to maintaining normal daily activities and quality of life, remarkably few studies of this syndrome have been conducted. This trend is slowly changing with the recognition of fatigue as a diagnosis by the International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision-Clinical Modification; the introduction of new instruments for the measurement of fatigue; and the publication of practice guidelines. An adequate evaluation of fatigue must assess its severity, clarify other characteristics, and determine the impact on daily activities. Potential etiologies include the underlying disease, treatment of the disease, concurrent conditions, and psychological disorders. Interventions for fatigue involve therapies targeted at the correction of the potential etiologies and symptomatic therapies that may be pharmacologic or nonpharmacologic. Possible primary therapies include modification of the patient's drug regimen, correction of metabolic abnormalities, nutritional support, and pharmacologic treatments for anemia, insomnia, or depression. Symptomatic interventions include specific drug treatment, modification of activity, exercise, and cognitive therapies.     

Conversing Rate from Morphine to Continuous Infusion of Fentanyl in Patients Suffering Cancer Pain

Objective: To investigate the proper conversing rate from morphine to continuous infusion of fentanyl in patients suffering cancer pain. Methods: A retrospective study was carried on in 20 patients with cancer pain in Shizuoka Cancer Center from Sep. 2002 to Nov. 2003. Pain intensity, adverse reactions, and satisfaction index of patients were evaluated. Results: The pain intensity was stable in 17 patients indicating good pain-control within 1 week after conversion and unstable in 3 patients after conversion suggesting poor pain-control. Fentanyl injection could alleviate side effects and increase the satisfaction index of patients. Conclusion: The equipotent ratio for conversion of low dose morphine to fentanyl injection was established as 72:1, and for non low dose morphine a ratio less than 72:1 was proposed to get stable pain-relieving effect. But the equipotent ratio for conversion of morphine to continuous infusion of fentanyl could not be determined. We must consider the morphine dose before the confirmation of the conversing rate.     

丘脑中央中核毁损治疗癌症顽固性疼痛的实验及临床应用

背景与目的:目前对癌症顽固性疼痛(简称顽痛)尚未有较好的治疗方法。有报道丘脑中央中核(centromedianusnucleus,CM核)在中枢镇痛中起着重要作用,本研究旨在通过大鼠动物实验和临床治疗90例多种癌症顽痛患者,探讨毁损CM核后的镇痛效果。方法:选用远交群大鼠(SpragueDawley大鼠,SD大鼠)10只,电解毁损其CM核,采用电刺激鼠尾———嘶叫法进行测痛,同时设假毁损组SD大鼠10只,除不通电毁损外,其余手术条件均与毁损组相同。以电流强度(mA)的变化,测定大鼠痛阈的改变。临床治疗癌症顽痛患者90例,其中肺癌36例、鼻咽癌21例、结肠癌10例、胰腺癌8例、骨癌8例、肾癌4例、肝癌3例。应用脑立体定向技术,对CM核行热凝射频毁损。采用世界卫生组织推荐的10分法评定手术前后的疼痛程度。结果:毁损组大鼠痛阈术前为(0.152±0.034)mA,术后为(0.326±0.05)mA,两者差异有显著性(P<0.001);假毁损组大鼠痛阈术前为(0.142±0.027)mA,术后为(0.138±0.035)mA,两者差异无显著性(P>0.05)。本组患者术前疼痛计分均在7分以上,术后降至0～3分。随访发现,24例患者有不同程度疼痛复发,但计分在5分以下;其余患者均持续止痛,有3例达2年多。术后并发症,嗜睡15例,尿失禁10例,语言错乱8例,一侧动眼神经不全麻痹3例,经对症处理后上述症状均消     

The problem of pain in children with cancer: a research review.

Pain in a child with cancer poses significant challenges for nurses. However, little research has been conducted in the area of pediatric cancer pain to guide clinical assessments and interventions. The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the research studies conducted on pediatric cancer pain over 13-1/2 years. The review of the cancer pain research studies is organized around several concepts that include approaches to cancer pain assessment and management as well as the presentation, incidence, and etiology of pain associated with childhood malignancy. Relevant clinical findings from the review of the literature are highlighted. Emphasis is on the major nursing implications from these studies, and suggestions are made for future nursing research.