Views of algology inpatients about ethical issues related to pain.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the views of patients hospitalized in the algology clinic about ethical issues related to pain. METHODS: A total of 135 patients admitted to the algology clinic comprised the population of this descriptive study. Data were collected using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the questionnaire on ethical issues related to pain. To evaluate the data, percentage distribution and the Tukey test of variance were used. RESULTS: Of the patients, 92.6% believed that they had the right to pain relief, and 94.8% believed that they should be consulted when decisions about them were made. It was determined that 43.0% of the patients disagreed with Proposition 1, 'When a terminal-stage cancer patient with unrelievable pain requests an overdose of pain medication, possibly to cause death, the physician must prescribe it,' while 51.9% of the participants disagreed with Proposition 2, 'When a terminal-stage cancer patient with unrelievable pain and his or her family request an overdose of pain medication, possibly to cause death, the physician must prescribe it,' and 44.4% of them disagreed with Proposition 3, 'When a terminal-stage cancer patient with unrelievable pain requests an overdose of pain medication, possibly to cause death even though his or her family refuses, the physician must prescribe it.' A statistically significant relationship (p<0.05) was found between the mean VAS scores and Propositions 1 and 3. CONCLUSION: The patients were willing to be informed and to be asked about their views regarding the issue, but they did not want to be prescribed a high dose of pain medication, possibly to cause overdose and death.

Cancer Pain and Quality of Life.

Cancer pain is an unrelenting symptom with the potential to alter the quality of life of patients. To adequately manage pain, nurses caring for cancer patients need to fully understand each patient's pain experience. The purpose of this study was to identify the intensity, distress, frequency, or constancy of pain in patients treated for cancer or cancer symptoms and to better understand patient barriers to pain management. This cross-sectional study included patients (N = 105) treated for cancer or cancer symptoms at 2 outpatient medical centers. Assessments included the Pain Barriers Scale, the Cancer Symptom Scale, and the Multidimensional QOL Scale-Cancer. Descriptive statistics and Spearman correlations were used to analyze the data. Sixty-nine percent of patients reported present pain of moderate to severe intensity that caused distress, was frequent/constant, or interfered with their lives. Patients with the greatest pain distress reported the greatest intensity of pain (r = 0.77) and the greatest interference (r = 0.78) with daily lives. Cancer pain was associated with significant distress and interference with life activities and occurred frequently or constantly for many study patients.

Fatigue and pain in children and adults with multiple osteochondromas in Norway, a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Multiple Osteochondromas (MO) is a rare skeletal disorder frequently needing orthopaedic surgery. High prevalence of pain has been reported, however fatigue has not previously been investigated. PURPOSE: Our aims were to investigate prevalence of fatigue and pain in Norwegian children and adults with MO. Furthermore to compare prevalence of fatigue with reported prevalence in other groups and explore some factors that may contribute to fatigue in this population. METHODS: Questionnaire data was obtained from 11 children and 21 adults, approximately one third of the estimated MO population in Norway. Fatigue and pain was measured with validated instruments. RESULTS: Children with MO reported significantly higher fatigue than healthy children. Adults reported significantly higher fatigue than the general Norwegian population. Six of 11 children and 20 of 21 adults reported pain. Severe fatigue was more prevalent in persons with high age, high pain intensity and many pain locations; however none of these differences were significant. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of fatigue was found in Norwegian children and adults with MO. Such findings have not been previously reported. Pain was prevalent in both children and adults. This implies that fatigue and pain warrant specific attention in clinical practice and further research regarding persons with MO.

The treatment of orofacial pain by using transcranial direct current stimulation.

Neurostimulation methods are used in the treatment of chronic pain, although mainly for pharmacology resistant pain. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive neurostimulation method using low direct current (0.029-0.08 mA/cm2) applied to a cathode and anode, which directly stimulates the cranial surface. The applied current causes the most significant changes directly under the electrodes: the cathode reduces the excitability of cortical neurons, whereas the anode increases excitability. The effect of stimulation usually lasts a few hours up to a few days. We observed 19 patients with chronic orofacial pain. Inclusion criteria for the study were the following: orofacial pain, stable analgesic medication for at least one week before the beginning of stimulation and during its course, and age 18-75 years old. Patients with severe organic brain damage or seizure disease (epilepsy) were not included. The most common diagnosis was secondary trigeminal neuralgia after dental surgery. We measured thermal and tactile stimulation on the face before and after tDCS, then at 14 days. The total follow-up period lasted six months. We evaluated pain on a numerical scale (0-10) at each follow-up. We used sets of inventories focused on the examination of pain (a short form of McGill inventory), depression, anxiety, and pain interference with daily activities. tDCS is a non-invasive stimulation technique that is affordable and can be easily administered, especially when compared to other neurostimulation techniques. Only 15 patients out of the total number of 19 responded to the questionnaires.

The factors driving self-efficacy in intractable chronic pain patients: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: The fear-avoidance model is a theoretical paradigm for explaining acute and chronic pain. In this model, pain catastrophizing plays an important role. On the other hand, self-efficacy influences whether patients view their pain optimistically, ultimately preventing the conversion of pain into intractable pain. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the factors that influence self-efficacy in patients with chronic pain. METHODS: Study participants included 147 outpatients (35 men, 112 women) with intractable chronic pain who visited our hospital between September 2014 and July 2015. Their mean age was 71.0 (range 32-92) years. Pain sites were as follows: low back, 97 patients; knee, 71 patients; shoulder, 34 patients; and hip, 15 patients. All patients were assessed using the following measures: Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Pain Disability Assessment Scale (PDAS), and Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ). All participants were further divided into two groups based on median PSEQ scores (group L: PSEQ of 35 points or less, n = 74; group H: PSEQ greater than 35 points, n = 73). The factors that influenced self-efficacy in these patients were analyzed using univariate and multiple linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed in gender; pain duration; and NRS, PDAS, HADS, and PCS scores between group L and group H. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that self-efficacy was correlated with PDAS score, HADS depression score, and pain duration. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with longer pain duration indicated greater self-efficacy and patients with higher pain disability and depression exhibited lower self-efficacy.

Determinants for Meaningful Clinical Improvement of Pain and Health-Related Quality of Life After Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Intractable Pain.

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies demonstrated significant improvement in mean pain scores and quality of life (QOL) scales in patients with chronic pain who underwent spinal cord stimulation (SCS). However, the number of individuals who experience relevant improvements in QOL, termed the meaningful clinical improvement (MCI), is not known. The present study investigated changes in pain measurements based on MCI after SCS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-four patients with chronic intractable pain completed scales of pain (visual analogue scale [VAS]), QOL (SF-36), and psychological dimensions during a 22-month follow-up period (mean). Patient-centered MCI of the VAS and SF-36 domain scores were determined based on the MacNab criteria of surgical global effectiveness. Independent presurgical predictors for MCI in the VAS and SF-36 domains were analyzed using multiple binary logistic regression. RESULTS: There was significant improvement of pain and QOL after the SCS (p < 0.00001). Twenty-three patients (67.6%) reached an MCI of pain, and 16 (47.7%)-23 (67.7%) reported an MCI of QOL. Predictors of MCI included ≥80% paresthesia coverage of the painful area, lower levels of anxiety and catastrophizing symptoms, shorter pain duration, female gender and no use of opioids before surgery. MCI of pain and QOL was observed in 50%-70% of patients with chronic pain after SCS. CONCLUSIONS: The identification of determinants for MCI is a challenge to improve the accuracy of prognostic models in SCS for patients with chronic pain. Our results, if confirmed in other populations with a larger sample size, have implications for patients with chronic pain who are candidates for SCS treatment.

Cannabis in palliative care: current challenges and practical recommendations.

Pain and symptom control challenges are common in palliative care, and the search for other therapeutic strategies is ongoing. Unfortunately, patients and their caregivers are receiving little information or support from healthcare providers regarding the increasingly popular cannabinoid-based medicines (CBM). Clinicians, meanwhile, feel understandably perplexed by the discrepancy between the available evidence and the rapid interest in which patients and their families have demonstrated for CBM. There is an urgent need to address the many challenges that are delaying the appropriate integration of CBM into clinical practice, notwithstanding the obvious need for a solid general knowledge of pharmacology, mechanism of action and available clinical evidence supporting its use. The authors will address these challenges and provide practical recommendations regarding patient assessment for the use of CBM. The authors will also make suggestions regarding patient expectations in order to define clear objectives, review the necessary precautions prior to initiating treatment, aid in selecting the appropriate strain and route of administration as well as establishing proper titration and monitoring protocols. The authors will also discuss the lesser known but potentially therapeutic psychoactive effects of cannabis. As this class of therapeutic agents are likely to play a major role in palliative medicine in the near future, clinicians would benefit from familiarizing themselves with CBM and we can expect that patients and their caregivers will appreciate receiving support in their search for safe and effective therapeutic alternatives.

[Treatment-Refractory Pain]. / Therapierefraktäre Schmerzen.

Pain therapy concepts should be based on a biopsychosocial model. A prerequisite for adequate pain therapy is the detailed medical history. The questions about the intensity of pain and especially about the quality of pain are crucial for the selection of drug therapy. In addition to the questioning, targeted physical examination is essential. This should be repeated in case of therapy-refractory pain in the course. The transfer of clinically relevant knowledge about the emergence and the development of pain occurs in the new cross-sectional area ​​14 "pain medicine" and has been anchored in the licensing regulations. Treatment-refractory pain, despite adequate pharmacological therapy, may be the result of individual metabolism. For tumor-related pain, opioid rotation is a suitable symptom control procedure. To avoid treatment-refractory pain peaks, the medication for the need for basic medication should be adjusted in the dose. Non-drug treatment should be targeted for treatment-refractory pain to promote patient's ownership. Physiotherapeutic measures have the goal of increasing the self-efficacy of pain and regaining confidence in one's own bodily functions.

Only in Silence.

The oncology floor can be a silent place. Unlike the cardiology floor, with its insistent telemetry beeping, or the incessant bustle of the general ward below. Silence can be healing, and the oncology floor reveres all forms of healing it can find. Yet some voices ring loud on this floor. As an intern, I would grimace into my scut list as oncology attendings intoned dire diagnoses and exhorted still-reeling victims to altruistically enroll in clinical trials. I mutely ground my teeth listening to the relentless stream of probabilities and adverse reactions flooding into the shocked silence of a child baffled by his or her metamorphosis into a cancer patient between breakfast and lunch. The practiced script unwound, preemptively striking down every potential worry already foreseen. But sometimes what was unspoken was even worse. Silence can give patients space to comprehend, digest, formulate questions, and enunciate fears. I believe in the silence of the "great empty cup of attention." Still, ethics can founder in silence.

Use of Art-Making Intervention for Pain and Quality of Life Among Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Although pain is one of the most prevalent symptoms among cancer patients, medications do not always result in sufficient pain relief. Furthermore, these medications only address the physical component of pain. Art making, a holistic approach, may distract the user's attention from pain and allow expression of the nonphysical (e.g., psychological, spiritual) components of pain. The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate evidence for the efficacy of art-making interventions in reducing pain and improving health-related quality of life (QoL) among cancer patients. METHOD: PubMed, Academic Search Premier, ProQuest, and CINAHL were searched from database inception to September 2016 using the following search terms: neoplasm, cancer, tumor, pain, pain management, quality of life (QoL), well-being, art therapy, painting, and drawing. RESULTS: Fourteen articles reporting 13 studies were reviewed. Some studies reported beneficial effects of art making on pain and QoL, but the evidence was weakened by poor study quality ratings, heterogeneity in art-making interventions and outcome measures, interventions including non-art-making components, and few randomized controlled studies. CONCLUSION: More rigorous research is needed to demonstrate the efficacy of art making in relieving cancer-related pain and improving QoL.

The primary diagnosis and the coexisting anxiety disorders have no impact on the additional surgical procedure after spinal cord stimulators implantation: An analysis of 11,029 patients.

Studies have demonstrated superior outcomes and cost effectiveness of the spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for the treatment of chronic pain syndromes such as failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) or complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). However, little is known about the impact of primary diagnosis or mental disorders on the revision rate. This is the Retrospective cohort study to analyze the reintervention rates based on the primary diagnosis or comorbid mental disorder. Data of the annual trends of SCS use, revision and removal rate of SCS and additional surgical rate after removal was collected and analyzed for patients undergoing SCS between 2007 and 2015, within a private insurance billing database. Trial cases were excluded from this study. The results showed 11,029 patients received SCS implantation with percutaneous electrodes (PE, n = 7418) or surgical electrode (SE, n = 3611). There was a trend of increasing use of SCS from 2007 to 2013, followed by a decrease in last two years. There was no significant difference in the neither removal nor revision rate regardless between the patients with FBSS or CRPS at each time point. Although the removal rates within 2 years were significantly higher in the patients with anxiety disorders compared to the patients without any mental disorders (PE: p < .001, SE: 0.003), the rate of additional surgery after the removal showed no significant difference (PE: p = .532, SE: p = .262). Therefore, we concluded that the primary diagnosis and the presence of anxiety disorders did not have an impact on the additional surgical rate following SCS implantation.

The Enigma of Low-Dose Ketamine for Treatment of Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia in the Setting of Psychosocial Suffering and Cancer-Associated Pain.

Opioid-induced hyperalgesia is a paradoxical adverse effect of opioid therapy with unclear strategies for its treatment and management. We report the successful use of low-dose ketamine infusion for the treatment of opioid-induced hyperalgesia in a 38-year-old woman presenting with psychosocial suffering and high opioid requirement secondary to pain from a poorly differentiated neuroendocrine tumor. Over the course of a month, her opioid requirement escalated to the gram level of oral morphine equivalents, upon which she was hospitalized at University of California San Diego Health for an acute on chronic pain crisis. Despite use of patient-controlled analgesia, her pain level remained unchanged for nearly 2 days after initiation of a low-dose ketamine infusion. The infusion ultimately allowed reduction of her opioid use to a third of her original daily requirement and improved her function and ability to interact for several days. Although her pain profile became increasingly complicated by psychosocial suffering and disease progression, she did not experience the same pain event for the remainder of her hospital course. Findings from this case report demonstrate the utility of low-dose ketamine infusion in opioid-induced hyperalgesia.

Anxiety, depression and coping behaviors with pain in cancer patients who are aware or unaware of their cancer.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate whether there are differences in depression, anxiety, pain and styles of coping with pain between cancer patients with and without awareness of their cancer diagnosis. METHODS: In this study, 30 cancer patients aware of their diagnosis and 30 cancer patients unaware of their diagnosis, all of whom visited a clinic for pain treatment, were enrolled in this study. A sociodemographic information form, a questionnaire comprising questions about pain severity and related variables, Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, and the Pain Coping Questionnaire were administered to the patients. RESULTS: No significant association was observed between the patients with awareness or unawareness of cancer with respect to anxiety, depression, pain severity, or coping with pain. Pain intensity was significantly associated with depression in both the patient groups. CONCLUSION: The study enrolled patients who were admitted for pain treatment, and the sampling group was small. However, this is the first study to investigate the effects of the awareness of cancer diagnosis on pain and its management.

Quality of life in responders after palliative radiation therapy for painful bone metastases using EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-BM22: results of a Brazilian cohort.

BACKGROUND: Bone metastases cause pain, suffering and impaired quality of life (QoL). Palliative radiotherapy (RT) and/or chemotherapy are effective methods in controlling pain, reducing analgesics use and improving QoL. This study goal was to investigate the changes in QoL scores among patients who responded to palliative treatment. METHODS: A prospective study evaluating the role of radiation therapy in a public academic hospital in São Paulo-Brazil recorded patients' opioid use, pain score, Portuguese version of QLQ-BM22 and QLQ-C30 before and 2 months after radiotherapy. Analgesic use and pain score were used to calculate international pain response category. Overall response was defined as the sum of complete response (CR) and partial response (PR). CR was defined as pain score of 0 with no increase in analgesic intake whereas PR was defined as pain reduction ≥2 without analgesic increase or analgesic reduction in ≥25% without increase in pain at the treated site. RESULTS: From September 2014 to October 2015, 25 patients with bone metastases responded to RT or chemotherapy (1 CR, 24 PR). There were 8 male and 17 female patients. The median age of the 25 patients was 59 (range, 22 to 80) years old. Patient's primary cancer site was breast [11], prostate [5], lung [2], others [7]. For QLQ-BM 22, the mean scores of 4 categories at baseline were: pain site (PS) 39, pain characteristics (PC) 61, function interference (FI) 49 and psycho-social aspects (PA) 57. At 2 month follow up, the scores were PS 27, PC 37, FI 70 and PA 59. Statistical significant improvement (P<0.05) was seen in PS, PC, FI but not PA. In the QLQ-C30, the scores were not statistically different for all categories, except for pain that demonstrated a 33 point decrease in the median pain score domain (66 to 33). CONCLUSIONS: Responders to RT at 2 months presented improvement in BM22 and C30 pain domains, and also improvement in functional interference domain of the BM22 questionnaire.

Sexual Health in Women Affected by Cancer: Focus on Sexual Pain.

As cancer therapies improve, the number of women surviving or living long lives with cancer continues to increase. Treatment modalities, including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy, affect sexual function and may cause sexual pain through a variety of mechanisms, depending on treatment type. Adverse sexual effects resulting from ovarian damage, anatomic alterations, and neurologic, myofascial, or pelvic organ injury may affect more than half of women affected by cancer. Despite the fact that no specialty is better qualified to render care for this consequence of cancer treatments, many obstetrician-gynecologists (ob-gyns) feel uncomfortable or ill-equipped to address sexual pain in women affected by cancer. Asking about sexual pain and dyspareunia and performing a thorough physical examination are essential steps to guide management, which must be tailored to individual patient goals. Understanding the cancer treatment-related pathophysiology of sexual pain aids in providing this care. Effective mechanism-based treatments for sexual pain and dyspareunia are available, and by using them, knowledgeable ob-gyns can enhance the quality of life of potentially millions of women affected by cancer.

French laypeople's and health professionals' views on the acceptability of terminal sedation.

AIM: To study the views on the acceptability of terminal sedation (TS) of laypeople and health professionals in France. METHOD: In November 2013-June 2015, 223 laypeople and 53 health professionals (21 physicians and 32) judged the acceptability of TS in 48 realistic scenarios composed of all combinations of four factors: (a) the patients' life expectancy, (b) their request for sedation, (c) the decision-making process and (d) the type of sedation. In all scenarios, the patients were women with a terminal illness suffering from intractable pain and receiving the best possible care. The ratings were subjected to cluster analysis and analyses of variance. RESULTS: Five qualitatively different positions were found that were termed TS acceptable if decision taken collectively (15%), TS acceptable if patient explicitly requested it (19%), TS acceptable if patient did not explicitly oppose it (47%), 24-hour sedation not acceptable (6%) and TS always acceptable (13%). The percentage of older participants in the 'always acceptable' cluster was higher than the percentage of younger participants. CONCLUSIONS: Laypeople and health professionals do not appear to be systematically opposed to TS. The most important factors in increasing its acceptability were the patients' request for sedation and the collective character of the decision-making process.

A report on the consequences of the first implanted device for long-term analgesia in refractory cancer pain.

BACKGROUND: During the early 1970s, satisfactory long-term treatment of the severe pain associated with metastatic cancer was not available. Spinal cord stimulation introduced a few years earlier in 1967 had not proven to be effective in treating nociceptive pain. We describe our pioneering experience using an implanted device to infuse local anesthetics into the epidural space and provide pain relief to the patient. METHODS: Increasing doses of systemic opioids were unsuccessful in treating the intractable pain of spinal metastases in our patient. We devised an analgesic delivery system by modifying equipment usually used for ventriculoperitoneal shunts. A lumbar epidural catheter was inserted in the patient's spine, then tunneled subcutaneously across the flank to the anterior abdominal wall, and subsequently connected to a modified Ommaya reservoir with ventriculoperitoneal shunt tubing. This was filled with local anesthetic and injected into the patient's epidural space by manual compression. RESULTS: The system was used for several months with intermittent addition of local anesthetic to the reservoir with satisfactory control of the patient's pain. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the first use of an implanted epidural catheter system for long-term relief of pain due to terminal cancer that occurred at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. We contend that this event played an important role in the cascade of devices that followed and connect it to the changes in the attitude of health care providers toward treatment of cancer pain.

[Are artificial disorders common in palliative care? A Case report]. / Sind artifizielle Störungen im palliativen Kontext häufig? Ein Fallbericht.

The main task of palliative care specialists is to focus on symptom control such as pain, nausea or fatigue. Thorough anamnesis, physical examination, laboratory examination, and differential diagnosis can ensure appropriate treatment. In an increasing number of cases psychiatric conditions like depression or anxiety increase also occur so palliative care physicians need to be more prepared to handle them. The question of this case report is, how a palliative care specialist can distinguish between a malignant disease or neurological disease progression and a presentation primarily psychiatric in etiology, as is the case in factitious disorders. We are also interested in the incidence rate of such factitious disorders. Our case study demonstrates that it is rare but not impossible that a doctor will encounter factitious symptoms in the palliative setting. This suggest being aware of evidence of psychiatric origins even in discharge letters and referrals that indicate palliative care needs, to ensure that palliative care really is the best treatment option for the patient. We do believe such cases to be rare in a palliative setting, however.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate attenuates bone cancer pain involving decreasing spinal Tumor Necrosis Factor-α expression in a mouse model.

Tumor metastasis to bone often elicits a wide array of symptoms, in which pain is a significant factor in catastrophic complications of bone cancer. The complete understanding of bone cancer-related pain is still unknown, while several pathophysiological components have been suggested, from tumor-stimulated osteolysis, nerve compression, stimulations of ion channels, and locally generated inflammatory cytokines. In particular, it has been shown that pro-inflammatory cytokine TNFα-mediated actions are necessary for the development of bone cancer pain. As a member of catechin family in green tea extracts, EGCG (Epigallocatechin-3-gallate) can reduce excess free radicals and attenuate overactive inflammatory signaling including TNFα. In addition, EGCG or its related molecules have been used to control neuropathic pain in various preclinical settings. However, its potential use in bone cancer-caused pain has not yet been reported. Here we show that treating a mouse model of bone cancer by EGCG, results in a dramatic reduction in pain behavior and a significant decrease of TNFα expression within the spinal cord of tumor-bearing mice. Thus, this study reveals an anti-nociceptive role for EGCG in the progression of pain caused by tumor bone metastasis, and highlights a potential scheme by using anti-TNFα as a therapeutic option for osteolytic pain.