• H B Sittig.
• Leiter Schmerztherapie Zentrum Unterweser, St. Josef-Hospital, Bremerhaven. drhbsittig@aol.com
• MMW Fortschr Med. 2004 Dec 9; 146 (Suppl 3-4): 95-8.

MethodA total of 487 patients with severe pain of varying pathogenesis received sustained-release hydromorphone (Palladon) in an observational study. After an initial examination, two follow-ups took place on the 3rd and 7th day and a final examination after about 21 days.ResultsThe intensity of the pain, measured using a numerical rating scale from 0 to 10 (none--most severe pain), decreased by 65.3% from 7.2 at the start to 2.5 at the final examination. The quality of life, characterized by the patients themselves assessing the variables of sleep, vitality, mood, social contacts, activity, resilience and walking ability, increased by 53.7% in comparison with the initial examination. Symptoms typical of opioids (tiredness, nausea, constipation and vomiting) were present in 65.4% of the patients at the start of the treatment with hydromorphone. On sustained-release hydromorphone, with appropriate treatment a markedly smaller proportion of patients suffered from these accompanying symptoms. Both the efficacy and tolerability as well as patient compliance were assessed as "very good" or "good" by the doctors in more than 85% of cases.ConclusionThis observational study confirms the good pain-relieving efficacy of sustained-release hydromorphone together with very good tolerability and very good compliance. Patients assessed their own quality of life as markedly improved.

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