Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2016
Burdensome Physical and Depressive Symptoms Predict Heart Failure-Specific Health Status Over One Year.
Heart failure (HF)-specific health status (symptom burden, functional status, and health-related quality of life) is an important patient-reported outcome that is associated with palliative care needs, hospitalizations, and death. ⋯ Burdensome physical and depressive symptoms independently predicted subsequent HF-specific health status in patients with symptomatic HF. Whether addressing these aspects of the patient experience can improve health status and well-being in symptomatic HF should be studied further.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2016
Integrated Onco-Palliative Care Associated with Prolonged Survival Compared to Standard Care for Patients with Advanced Lung Cancer: A Retrospective Review.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. A large randomized controlled trial in advanced lung cancer found a survival advantage with an early palliative care (EPC) intervention compared to standard oncologic care. ⋯ EPC in advanced lung cancer was associated with a nearly two-month survival advantage compared to standard oncologic care. This finding provides supportive evidence to previously published reports of survival benefit with EPC intervention. Clinical trial participation rates in advanced lung cancer are lacking, and we found more frequent clinical trial participation in the early PC group. No differences were seen in chemotherapy utilization or hospice enrollment. EPC patients' longer hospice length of stay did not compromise survival.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2016
Review Multicenter Study Meta AnalysisPrevalence of Neuropathic Pain in Cancer Patients: Pooled Estimates From a Systematic Review of Published Literature and Results From a Survey Conducted in Fifty Italian Palliative Care Centers.
Because of the increasing body of literature on neuropathic cancer pain (NCP), an accurate estimate of its prevalence requires recurring updates. ⋯ The systematic review and the survey suggest that more than one in three patients with cancer pain also experiences NCP.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2016
ReviewFrom "Breakthrough" to "Episodic" Cancer Pain? A European Association for Palliative Care Research Network Expert Delphi Survey Towards a Common Terminology and Classification of Transient Cancer Pain Exacerbations.
Cancer pain can appear with spikes of higher intensity. Breakthrough cancer pain (BTCP) is the most common term for the transient exacerbations of pain, but the ability of the nomenclature to capture relevant pain variations and give treatment guidance is questionable. ⋯ Significant transient cancer pain exacerbations include more than just BTCP. Patient input and pain classification are important factors for tailoring treatment.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2016
The Opioid Rotation Ratio from Transdermal Fentanyl to "Strong" Opioids in Patients with Cancer Pain.
One-third of cancer patients require opioid rotation (OR) to treat uncontrolled pain or opioid-induced neurotoxicity. Although fentanyl is the most frequently rotated opioid in cancer patients, the accurate opioid rotation ratio (ORR) from transdermal fentanyl (TDF) to other so-called "strong" opioids is unknown. ⋯ The median ORR from TDF mg/day to MEDD is 100 and from TDF mcg/hour to MEDD is 2.4, suggesting that TDF 100 mcg/hour is equivalent to an MEDD of 240 mg.