Journal of pain and symptom management
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Oxycodone has been in clinical use since 1917. Parenteral oxycodone was used mainly for the treatment of acute postoperative pain whereas combinations, for example, oxycodone and acetaminophen, were used for moderate pain. Since the introduction of controlled-release oxycodone, it has been used to manage cancer-related pain and chronic non-cancer-related pain problems. ⋯ The pharmacodynamic effects of oxycodone are typical of a mu-opioid agonist. Oxycodone closely resembles morphine but it has some distinct differences, particularly in its pharmacokinetic profile. Being an old drug, the basic pharmacology of oxycodone has been a neglected field of research.
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In Japan, palliative care team (PCT) services have been covered by National Health Insurance since 2002. The primary aims of this study were to compare the characteristics of patients who received PCT services with those admitted to palliative care units (PCU), and to clarify the medical treatments and symptom improvement during the first week after consultation with the PCT. This was a prospective audit study of 111 consecutive cancer patients referred to the PCT in Seirei Mikatabara Hospital and a comparison group of 100 consecutive patients admitted to PCU. ⋯ However, no significant improvements were observed in symptom scores of fatigue, dry mouth, somnolence, and delirium. A median of 3 interventions was performed for each patient, and the most common interventions were administration of NSAIDs, opioids, centrally-acting antiemetics, and steroids. These data indicate that a PCT was successfully implemented in Seirei Mikatabara Hospital, and may contribute to symptom improvement in cancer patients.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · May 2005
Pain prevalence in hospitalized patients in a German university teaching hospital.
Forty-eight units were enrolled in a descriptive, cross-sectional study to identify strengths and weaknesses of pain management in a German university teaching hospital. Patients had to be > or =18 years old and able to speak German; intensive care, psychiatric, obstetric and pediatric units were excluded. Structured interviews were conducted by an independent researcher not involved in patient care. ⋯ Sex and age did not influence pain prevalence, pain intensity, or pain therapy. Pain prevalence and intensity in this German university hospital were high and pain therapy was inadequate in many cases. Pain management needs to be improved by continuous assessment and adequate pain medication.
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The metabolism of opioids closely relates to their chemical structure. Opioids are subject to O-dealkylation, N-dealkylation, ketoreduction, or deacetylation leading to phase-I metabolites. By glucuronidation or sulfatation, phase-II metabolites are formed. ⋯ By this, it may play an important role in the clinical effects of morphine. Several other opioids, such as meperidine and perhaps also morphine and hydromorphone, produce metabolites with neuroexcitatory effects. In sum, the evidence suggests that the metabolites of several opioids account for an important part of the clinical effects that must be considered in clinical practice.
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Pain is the cancer-related event that is most disruptive to the cancer patient's quality of life. Although bone cancer pain is one of the most severe and common of the chronic pains that accompany breast, prostate, and lung cancers, relatively little is known about the mechanisms that generate and maintain this pain. Recently, we developed a mouse model of bone cancer pain. ⋯ Humans suffering from bone cancer pain generally require significantly higher doses of morphine as compared to individuals with inflammatory pain and in the mouse model the doses of morphine required to block bone cancer pain-related behaviors were 10 times that required to block peak inflammatory pain behaviors of comparable magnitude induced by hindpaw injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA; 1-3 mg/kg). As these animals were treated acutely, there was not time for morphine tolerance to develop and the rightward shift in analgesic efficacy observed in bone cancer pain versus inflammatory pain suggests a fundamental difference in the underlying mechanisms that generate bone cancer versus inflammatory pain. These results indicate that this model will be useful in defining drug therapies that are targeted for complex bone cancer pain syndromes.