Patient-Controlled Therapy with Intravenous Oxycodone in Breathlessness due to Advanced Cancer: A Case Report.

Dyspnoea is a debilitating symptom in medicine, especially in palliative care. Opioids are the pharmacological agents of choice in the treatment of dyspnoea in palliative medicine. Morphine is the best-studied opioid, and recent literature on oxycodone is encouraging. In refractory cases, opioid infusion and palliative sedation may have to be used. We present a case that used oxycodone in a patient-controlled device specifically for dyspnoea and its effects in relieving dyspnoea in a fast and timely manner. This helped in meeting the demands of the patient and relieving suffering rapidly with less sedation. This case report is unique in the use of an oxycodone patient-controlled device specifically for dyspnoea.

Symptoms, Electrolyte Disturbances and Serum Albumin Levels in Palliative Oncology Patients Admitted Through Emergency: Characteristics and Survival Outcomes.

Objectives: Our research aimed to examine the characteristics of palliative oncology patients hospitalised through an emergency to look for the symptom profile, characteristics of dyselectrolytemia and blood investigations, and possible associations with mortality. Materials and Methods: After institutional review board approval, a retrospective, observational study of patients hospitalised in our tertiary care specialty oncology hospital was undertaken. Records of hospitalised cancer patients admitted from the emergency department under palliative care from January 2019 to October 2021 were examined. As all admissions during this period were through emergency due to institution COVID-19 protocols, all elective admissions were excluded from the study. Data collected included patient characteristics, blood investigations, and comorbid history of systemic diseases and factors that could be associated with electrolyte imbalance. Results: There were 157 emergency admissions during the study period. A majority were patients with solid tumours (92.4%). Pain was the most frequent cardinal symptom, along with other symptoms (68/157) or in isolation (33/157), followed by reduced oral intake (32/157) and altered sensorium (24/157). sixty-six patients died within the hospitalisation period. On long-term follow-up, only 8 (5.1%) were surviving. Hyponatraemia (43%), Hypoalbuminaemia (66%), and altered renal function (33.1%) were prevalent. We observed a weak positive correlation between sodium levels and outcome (r = 0.199, P = 0.016) and a strong positive correlation between albumin levels and survival outcomes (r = 0.329, P = 0.000). Patients with normal albumin had a higher chance of survival (odds ratio: 33.1225, 95% confidence interval: 3.415-321.20, P = 0.003). Conclusion: Pain-reduced oral intake and altered sensorium are common emergency symptoms in oncology palliative care. Mortality is high in these patients. Hyponatraemia, hypoalbuminaemia, and deranged renal functions were commonly seen. Normal sodium and albumin levels were associated with higher chances of survival, and the association was strong for serum albumin levels. This may have prognostic utility.

Anticholinergic Burden and Cognition in Older Patients With Schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Older individuals with schizophrenia are at risk of being treated with anticholinergic medications due to the prevalence of medical comorbidities and polypharmacy. High anticholinergic burden impairs cognition and is a risk factor for Alzheimer's dementia. Thus, we assessed the impact of anticholinergic burden on Alzheimer's dementia-related and schizophrenia-related cognitive functions in older patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Anticholinergic burden was measured using the Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden scale (ACB) in 60 community-dwelling patients aged ≥ 50 years who met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia between May 2007 and November 2011. Cognitive domains affected early in the course of Alzheimer's dementia were assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) Alzheimer's Dementia Battery and the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status. Two CANTAB tests of executive function were used to assess deficits common in schizophrenia. Regression analyses were used to assess the relationships between anticholinergic burden and cognition. A receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed to determine an ACB cutoff score to identify those at risk of cognitive impairment. RESULTS: ACB scores were associated with spatial working (P = .04) and immediate (P = .004) memory and visuospatial ability (P = .02) and showed a trend toward association with impaired learning (P = .06), but were not associated with attention, executive function, language, or reaction time. An ACB cutoff score of ≤ 1.5 can detect cognitive impairment with a sensitivity of 90.3% and specificity of 48.3%. CONCLUSIONS: High anticholinergic burden contributes to specific cognitive deficits in older individuals with schizophrenia that resemble those commonly observed early in the course of Alzheimer's dementia. The ACB is a potentially useful screening tool that can help identify patients at risk of developing anticholinergic-related cognitive impairment.

Continuous Cervical Epidural Analgesia in Metastatic Spinal Cord Compression.

Metastatic spinal cord compression is a devastating complication of cancer. Patients may often require high doses of opioids that may cause side effects, myoclonus being one such. A 63-year-old male suffering from malignant spinal cord compression was admitted to our institution. The primary team managed him conservatively with pharmacotherapy with no relief of pain, and he experienced myoclonus and sedation as adverse effects. A continuous cervical epidural catheter with local anesthetic infusion was inserted for 5 days to control his pain. This relieved his pain, which was sustained even after we removed the epidural catheter on day 5, for up to 64 days until the time of his death. Continuous cervical epidural local anesthetic infusions may help with refractory pain by deafferentation of noxious stimuli. Central neuraxial blocks may be a valuable rescue in selected patients.

Combination of Vancomycin and ß-Lactam Therapy for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia: A Pilot Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: In vitro laboratory and animal studies demonstrate a synergistic role for the combination of vancomycin and antistaphylococcal ß-lactams for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia. Prospective clinical data are lacking. METHODS: In this open-label, multicenter, clinical trial, adults with MRSA bacteremia received vancomycin 1.5 g intravenously twice daily and were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive intravenous flucloxacillin 2 g every 6 hours for 7 days (combination group) or no additional therapy (standard therapy group). Participants were stratified by hospital and randomized in permuted blocks of variable size. Randomization codes were kept in sealed, sequentially numbered, opaque envelopes. The primary outcome was the duration of MRSA bacteremia in days. RESULTS: We randomly assigned 60 patients to receive vancomycin (n = 29), or vancomycin plus flucloxacillin (n = 31). The mean duration of bacteremia was 3.00 days in the standard therapy group and 1.94 days in the combination group. According to a negative binomial model, the mean time to resolution of bacteremia in the combination group was 65% (95% confidence interval, 41%-102%; P = .06) that in the standard therapy group. There was no difference in the secondary end points of 28- and 90-day mortality, metastatic infection, nephrotoxicity, or hepatotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Combining an antistaphylococcal ß-lactam with vancomycin may shorten the duration of MRSA bacteremia. Further trials with a larger sample size and objective clinically relevant end points are warranted. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12610000940077 (www.anzctr.org.au).

Use of strong opioids for chronic non-cancer pain: a retrospective analysis at a pain centre in Singapore.

INTRODUCTION: The use of opioids in chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) is controversial, as it presents both benefits and risks. There is currently no available data on the incidence, prescription pattern, functional outcomes and adverse effects of opioids in patients with CNCP in Singapore. This study aimed to address the aforementioned deficit. METHODS: All records of patients who were prescribed strong opioids (for > 3 months per year) for the management of CNCP over a two-year period were retrospectively analysed. Factors including type of opioid, indications for opioid prescription, uncontrolled side effects, functional status, coexisting psychological issues and suspicion of aberrant drug-seeking behaviour were studied. RESULTS: Out of the 1,389 new patients who visited the centre, 42 (3.0%) with CNCP received strong opioids for more than three months a year. The most commonly prescribed opioid was methadone (42.9%). The principal diagnosis for opioid prescription was spinal pain (38.1%). Ten patients had severe side effects. 15 patients saw improvement in activities of daily living scores. Although ten patients returned to work, one stopped following the commencement of opioids. Aberrancy was seen in 5 (11.9%) patients, while 19 (45.2%) had psychological issues and 10 (23.8%) required psychiatric co-management. CONCLUSION: Opioids are not a panacea for chronic pain. Therefore, functional outcomes should be considered more important end points than mere reductions in pain scores. A multidisciplinary team approach is essential for the effective management of patients with CNCP who are on opioids.

Enhanced smoking cue salience associated with depression severity in nicotine-dependent individuals: a preliminary fMRI study.

The association between cigarette smoking and depression has been well documented; however, little research has been done to elucidate the neurobiological substrates of this highly prevalent comorbidity. We used multiple linear regression analysis to evaluate the relationship between depression severity as assessed by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) and blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses to visual smoking cues in drug-free nicotine-dependent smokers (n=18). Two functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were completed over a single study day, following overnight smoking abstinence (pre-smoking scan) and after cigarette reinstatement (post-smoking scan). During the pre-smoking scan positive correlations between BOLD activity and HAMD scores were observed in areas of the mesocorticolimbic dopaminergic system [inferior frontal gyrus, middle frontal gyrus (MFG), hippocampus (HC), anterior cingulate gyrus] and areas of the visuospatial attention circuit (medial occipital lobe, middle cingulate cortex, superior frontal gyrus, angular gyrus). During the post-smoking scan positive correlations were observed in areas of the brain implicated in drug expectancy (MFG), memory (HC), attentional motivation (posterior cingulate cortex), and visual processing and attention (precuneus). These preliminary findings demonstrate that smokers with higher depression severity attribute greater incentive salience to smoking-related cues and this is especially pronounced during periods of acute abstinence. Such enhanced salience of smoking cues, even after smoking a cigarette, may play a critical role both in the maintenance of smoking in depression and in greater levels of nicotine dependence seen in this patient population.

Gabapentin in the treatment of persistent hiccups in advanced malignancy.

Hiccups are a distressing symptom in advanced malignancies in the setting of palliative care. A case of persistent hiccups treated with oral Gabapentin is presented to highlight the clinical and ethical dilemmas in patients with advanced malignancy. A 70-year-old male with non-small cell cancer of the lung with widespread metastases presented with persistent hiccups. The patient and family sought only symptom relief from home, without hospitalization or further investigations. The hiccups were dramatically relieved by oral Gabapentin, highlighting the recent reports that mention this molecule as being useful for hiccups. Gabapentin is a simple tool that may be utilized by palliative care physicians to relieve hiccups in advanced malignancies.