Efficacy of Oxycodone for Dyspnea in End-stage Heart Failure with Renal Insufficiency.

A 67-year-old man with dilated cardiomyopathy and renal insufficiency was admitted to our hospital with dyspnea secondary to end-stage heart failure. We introduced oxycodone for medically refractory dyspnea instead of morphine because of the patient's renal insufficiency. After the administration of oxycodone, his dyspnea was alleviated without any adverse opioid effects, such as respiratory depression. After treating his heart failure, he was able to leave the intensive care unit. Oxycodone may therefore be a reliable agent for the treatment of dyspnea in patients with end-stage heart failure and renal insufficiency.

[Newly-developed drug information services provided by hospital pharmacists].

Modern health care is supported by many health care professionals. Hospital pharmacists are required to accept increasing responsibilities for appropriate medication use, moving into more important roles within the health care system. Accurate drug information is indispensable for appropriate medication use, however, drug information is not always sufficiently utilized by physicians, and thus it is suggested that there is a need for providing individualized drug information (one to one advice to physicians). Hospital pharmacists must have access to patient-specific health care information and must monitor drug therapy directly in order to provide individualized drug information. Hospital pharmacists, with proper access to patient-specific health care information, can promote safer prescribing practices by advising both patients and physicians, and so can reduce patients' risk for medication-related problems and improve the quality of their health care. Optimal drug therapy is the goal for every patient. Together, using their respective knowledge bases, pharmacists and physicians could provide optimal drug therapy, benefiting both patients and the health care system.