• Stuart Du Pen, Anna Du Pen, and Jon Hillyer.
• Overlake Pain Medicine Clinic, Overlake Medical Center, Bellevue, Washington 98004, USA. stuart.dupen@overlakehospital.org
• Pain Med. 2006 Jan 1;7(1):10-5.

BackgroundHydromorphone is often administered intrathecally for the treatment of cancer and nonmalignant chronic intractable pain. It is frequently utilized in combination with other analgesics in a multidrug intrathecal infusion; however, very little data are available documenting efficacy or safety of intrathecal hydromorphone as a solo analgesic.ObjectiveThis study was conducted to examine pain and side effects in patients receiving intrathecal hydromorphone.DesignA retrospective review was conducted of all patients receiving intrathecal hydromorphone monotherapy in two large pain specialty practices in the Pacific Northwest. All data collected within 30 days of the patient's 3-month, 6-month, and 12-month anniversary of implant were analyzed.PatientsTwenty-four patients with noncancer-related chronic pain were included in the study. Thirteen patients had eligible pain data at 1 month, 10 patients had pain data at 3 months and seven patients had pain data available at 12 months after initiation of intrathecal hydromorphone.ResultsAverage pain scores decreased significantly (P = 0.03). Side-effect and pain-interference scores remained essentially unchanged in this small sample of patients.

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