A Regional Survey of Attitudes and Experiences in Determining When to Prescribe Intranasal Naloxone for Patients Seen in Palliative Care Clinics in the United States of America.

Background: Published guidelines that help clinicians identify patients who would benefit from the co-prescription of intranasal naloxone (IN) exclude "palliative care patients." In the absence of clear care standards, palliative care (PC) clinicians may experience uncertainty in how to approach IN co-prescriptions. Objective: Explore the attitudes of PC clinicians in the United States of America who work at regional health care institutions regarding IN prescriptions for patients they prescribe opioids for. Methods: An 18-question electronic survey was distributed to PC clinicians that practice at institutions in Wisconsin or Minnesota with at least 10 other PC clinicians between February and May 2023. The survey explored clinical scenarios in which respondents would and would not prescribe IN. Results: Fifty-six PC clinicians responded to the survey-response rate 41%. Most respondents (90.9%) did not feel IN prescriptions should be reserved for patients with a full code status; 67.9% of respondents felt that IN prescriptions are reasonable for certain patients with a terminal illness and comfort goals of care. Neither prognosis, duration of opioid therapy, nor dose of opioid therapy were significant factors in determining whether most respondents prescribed IN for their patients. Most respondents (81.8%) felt clinician counseling and patient consent were essential before prescribing IN. Conclusion: Most PC clinicians in our survey felt that IN prescriptions can be appropriate for patients they prescribe opioids for. Bystander safety was an emerging rationale for why respondents chose to prescribe IN for their patients. Despite public health efforts to make IN more freely available, most respondents felt clinician counseling was essential before prescribing IN for their patients.

Methadone-Induced Neurotoxicity in Advanced Cancer: A Case Report.

Methadone use as a second-line agent for severe cancer-related pain is increasing in the field of hospice and palliative care. It has a number of qualities that make its use favorable, including lack of known active metabolites and presumed relative safety from adverse effects such as opioid-induced neurotoxicity (OIN). This article describes a case of a patient undergoing treatment of severe cancer-related pain who developed OIN in the setting of oral methadone use. As the use of methadone increases, more research into its pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic properties will be necessary.