Der Schmerz
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Comparative Study
[Quality and appropriateness of pain medication : Instrument for estimation in nursing home residents.]
The pain medication appropriateness scale (PMASD) was developed in 2006 in the USA to evaluate the quality and appropriateness of pain treatment in nursing home residents (NHR). This tool can be used to identify potential problems with the pharmacological treatment of pain. ⋯ An appropriate tool for quantitative evaluation of pain treatment was so far not available in Germany. The PMASD analysis showed deficits of pain management in NHR. This tool showed good practicability in Germany and could provide a valuable tool for pain treatment in clinical research and practice.
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Opioids are an essential part of cancer pain management but particularly in this patient group physicians could misinterpret opioid-induced potentially life-threatening side effects within the central nervous system (CNS) or hyperalgesia as a consequence of tumor progression. In this case increasing the opioid dose or switching to rapidly acting opioids may trigger a vicious circle. We describe a case report of a male patient who was treated with high doses of transdermal and endonasal fentanyl 2 years after pancreatomy due to cancer. ⋯ Further diagnostics revealed multiple incisional hernia as the reason of the pain syndrome. The patient recovered after herniotomy and has now been pain free without any pain medication for more than 16 months. This case report underlines again the necessity of pain diagnostics also in assumed palliative patients with the risks of high dose opioid treatment.