Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 1993
Intrathecal infusional therapies for intractable pain: patient management guidelines.
This article focuses on appropriate patient selection for and management of patients selected for continuous spinal infusional opioid therapy. Patients with cancer-related pain who have undergone sequential strong opioid drug trials, who have intractable, unmanageable side effects, and who have undergone a successful spinal opioid efficacy trial are candidates for implantable spinal infusional therapy. ⋯ Patients with cancer-related pain who have life expectancies less than 3 mo have implanted permanent epidural catheters connected to external pump systems. Management guidelines for complications of therapy broadly categorized as surgical, mechanical, and pharmacologic are presented.