pain-relief-19.matches: pain relief
Pitfalls of distal pancreatectomy for relief of pain in chronic pancreatitis.

Rattner DW, Fernandez-del Castillo C, Warshaw AL.

Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114, USA.

PURPOSE: To examine whether preoperative computed tomography (CT) scans and pancreatograms can: (1) identify patients with chronic pancreatitis localized to the tail of the pancreas; and (2) select those patients who can obtain pain relief from a distal pancreatectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty patients were identified on whom the authors had performed distal pancreatectomy for relief of pain between January 1, 1991 and August 1, 1994. The results of surgery were classified as good, fair, or poor based on return to work and need for narcotics or rehospitalization. RESULTS: Eleven patients had good, 3 fair, and 6 poor results. All 7 patients with pseudocysts of the tail of the pancreas had good results, while 9 of 13 patients without pseudocysts had poor results. No other finding on CT scan, pancreatography, or laparotomy predicted successful pain relief by distal pancreatectomy. Furthermore, 3 patients had unexpected carcinoma found at the time of surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Even when anatomic evidence suggests that chronic pancreatitis primarily involves the tail of the pancreas and there is a stricture of the midpancreatic duct that is believed to cause the symptoms, distal pancreatectomy seldom provides sustained pain relief. Unsuspected carcinoma of the body and tail of the pancreas occurs frequently in this subset of patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8554129&dopt=Abstract pain, pain medicine, pain relief



pain-relief-19.matches: pain relief
Validation of World Health Organization Guidelines for cancer pain relief: a 10-year prospective study.

Zech DF, Grond S, Lynch J, Hertel D, Lehmann KA.

Department of Anaesthesiology and Operative Intensive Care, University of Cologne, Germany.

This paper reports on the experience gained using World Health Organization Guidelines for cancer pain relief over a 10-year period in an anaesthesiology-based pain service associated with a palliative care programme. The course of treatment of 2118 patients was assessed prospectively over a period of 140,478 treatment days. Non-opioid analgesics (WHO step I) were used on 11%, weak opioids (WHO step II) on 31% and strong opioids (WHO step III) on 49% of treatment days. Administration was via the enteral route on 82% and parenterally on 9% of treatment days. On the remaining days, either spinally applied opioids (2%) or other treatments (6%) were utilised. Fifty-six percent of the patients were treated with morphine. Morphine dose escalation was observed in about one-half of the patients being cared for until death, whereas the other half had stable or decreasing doses over the course of treatment. Co-analgesics were administered on 37% of days, most often antidepressants (15%), anticonvulsants (13%) and corticosteroids (13%). Adjuvants to treat symptoms other than pain were prescribed on 79% of days, most commonly laxatives (42%), histamine-2-receptor antagonists (39%) and antiemetics (35%). In addition, palliative antineoplastic treatment was performed in 42%, nerve blocks in 8%, physiotherapy in 5%, psychotherapy in 3% and TENS in 3% of patients. A highly significant pain reduction was achieved within the 1st week of treatment (P < 0.001). Over the whole treatment period, good pain relief was reported in 76%, satisfactory efficacy in 12% and inadequate efficacy in 12% of patients. In the final days of life, 84% rated their pain as moderate or less, while 10% were unable to give a rating. Analgesics remained constantly effective in all 3 steps of the WHO ladder. Other clinical symptoms were likewise significantly reduced at 1 week after initial assessment, with the exception of neuropsychiatric symptoms. During the course of treatment, the latter were the major symptoms on 23% of days, followed by nausea (23%), constipation (23%) and anorexia (20%). Our results emphasise once again the marked efficacy and low rate of complications associated with oral and parenteral analgesic therapy as the mainstay of pain treatment in the palliative care of patients with advanced cancer. Wide dissemination of WHO guidelines among doctors and healthcare workers is thus necessary to effect a clear improvement in the treatment of the many patients suffering from cancer pain in the clinical and home setting.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8577492&dopt=Abstract pain, pain medicine, pain relief



pain-relief-19.matches: pain relief
Continuous intracisternal and high cervical intrathecal bupivacaine analgesia in refractory head and neck pain.

Appelgren L, Janson M, Nitescu P, Curelaru I.

Division of Anesthesiology, Pain Section, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden.

BACKGROUND: The upper cervical component of the spinomesencephalic tract and cranial nerves V, VII (nervus intermedius), IX, and X are involved in mechanisms of acute and chronic pain from head and neck structures. To date there is no reliable method for relief of refractory pain (i.e., pain that cannot be relieved by conventional pharmacologic therapies) from these structures. Therefore, we explored continuous intracisternal infusion of bupivacaine for the treatment of refractory pain of the head and neck. METHODS: Intracisternal catheters were inserted in 13 adults with refractory nonmalignant (n = 4) and malignant (n = 9) pain from the head, face, mouth, neck, and upper extremities; 0.5% plain bupivacaine was infused continuously at rates of 1-7 (median 1.5) mg/h with optional bolus doses of 0.5-2.0 mg 4-2 times/h. The efficacy was assessed from pain relief (daily VAS(max), VAS(min), and VAS(mean) scores 0-10), daily doses of intracisternal bupivacaine and total opioid (expressed as mg parenteral morphine-eq), amount of nocturnal sleep, and rates of adverse effects. RESULTS: The 13 patients were treated for 3-182 days (median 37, total 712 days), 3 patients being treated at home for 10-112 days (median 88, total 210 days). In one patient, the efficacy of the treatment could not be estimated because of advanced senility. Eleven of the remaining 12 patients obtained acceptable pain relief with daily doses of intracisternal bupivacaine ranging from 20 to 118 mg (median 37 mg): VAS(mean) scores decreased from 7 to 2, mean pain relief increased for 30% to 80%, total opioid daily dose decreased from 53 to 36 mg parenteral morphine-eq, and nocturnal sleep increased from 2 to >6h (all figures are median values). Speech, eating, walking, and natural functions were generally not affected. Side effects such as tiredness and malaise, somnolence and sleep, feeling of coldness in the neck and skull base, transient post-spinal puncture headache, paresthesias, hoarseness, dysphagia, transient paresis of the upper/lower extremities, episodic miosis and conjunctival hyperemia, and transient orthostatic arterial hypotension were each observed in one or two patients. No patient presented clinical evidence of phrenic nerve paralysis. There was no nausea or vomiting. No persistent neurologic deficit or death could be attributed to the intracisternal pain treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous intracisternal infusion of bupivacaine may be a useful method in exceptional, well selected patients with refractory pain from the head and neck structures. Further studies are necessary to establish the indications and the safety of the method.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8602655&dopt=Abstract pain, pain medicine, pain relief



pain-relief-19.matches: pain relief
Attitudes to pain and pain relief in adult surgical patients.

Brydon CW, Asbury AJ.

University Department of Anaesthesia, Western Infirmary, Glasgow.

Pain relief after surgery is frequently inadequate. In the last few years much research has been devoted to improving the situation. Unfortunately, very little work has been undertaken to explore the patients' contribution to pain management. The beliefs and attitudes held by patients when they enter the hospital environment may be responsible in some instances for their not achieving optimal pain relief from the available techniques. We have studied some of these attitudes with a survey of 180 adult patients admitted for elective surgery. We found that most patients still expect pain following surgery. However, they are not afraid to ask for analgesics when in pain and do not attribute pain to their own wrong doing. There are, however, some patients who appear to have 'deviant' pain beliefs that could hinder their appropriate use of analgesics. Sadly, it is impossible to identify these patients according to age, gender, socio-economic group or previous experience of pain or surgery.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8712330&dopt=Abstract pain, pain medicine, pain relief



pain-relief-19.matches: pain relief
Variation in the placebo effect in randomised controlled trials of analgesics: all is as blind as it seems.

McQuay H, Carroll D, Moore A.

Oxford Pain Relief Unit, Oxford, UK.

The objective was to investigate the relationship between pain relief scores produced by placebo and by active interventions in randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Individual patient categorical pain relief scores from 5 placebo-controlled single-dose parallel-group RCTs in acute postoperative pain were used to calculate the percentage of the maximum possible pain relief score (%maxTOTPAR) for the different treatments. One hundred and thirty of the 525 patients in the 5 trials had a placebo. Individual patients' scores with placebo varied from 0 to 100% of the maximum possible pain relief. The proportion who obtained more than 50% of the maximum possible pain relief with placebo varied from 7% to 37% across the trials; with the active drugs the variation was from 5 to 63%. Mean placebo scores were related to the mean score for the active treatments in each study; the higher the mean active score, the higher the mean placebo score. This relationship disappeared when median values were used. Medical folklore has it that the amount of relief obtained with placebo is one-third of the maximum possible (and does not vary), and that one-third of patients respond to placebo. The results show that the amount of relief obtained with placebo varies considerably between patients, that 38% of patients obtained more than 10% of the maximum possible relief, and 16% obtained greater than 50%. In double-blind, randomised parallel-group studies of high quality placebo scores should not vary. Despite these conditions being met the placebo scores did vary. The previous explanation, of a relationship between the mean placebo scores and the mean scores for the active treatments was not supported.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8740611&dopt=Abstract pain, pain medicine, pain relief



pain-relief-19.matches: pain relief
Effective pain relief with continuous intrapleural bupivacaine after thoracotomy in infants and children.

Semsroth M, Plattner O, Horcher E.

Department of Anaesthesia and General Intensive Care Medicine, University of Vienna, Austria.

The effect of continuous intrapleural bupivacaine on pain relief after lateral thoracotomy was studied in nine infants (< or = 15 kg body weight) and 11 children (> 15 kg body weight). An intrapleural catheter was inserted under direct vision during surgery. After extubation, the patients were transferred to the ICU where vital signs and pain scores were monitored. An intrapleural infusion of bupivacaine 0.25% with adrenaline was given at a loading dose of 0.625 mg.kg-1 body weight followed by a continuous infusion with a starting rate of 1.25 mg.kg-1.h-1. Haemodynamic and respiratory parameters did not differ significantly from control values throughout the study period in either group. The mean infusion rate could be reduced stepwise in both groups to 0.75 +/- 0.32 mg.kg-1.h-1 and 0.73 +/- 0.38 mg.kg-1.h-1 respectively. The pain score indicated a rapid onset of analgesia in both groups and remained low during the study period. The degree of analgesia amongst other factors was position dependent. The lack of any recognizable side effects or complications related to this method has been most encouraging. Only one child required a supplementary dose of an opioid. We conclude that continuous intrapleural access has proved to be a safe and suitable route for pain relief in infants and children following thoracotomy.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8827746&dopt=Abstract pain, pain medicine, pain relief



pain-relief-20.matches: pain relief
Intrathecal morphine (ITM) for postoperative pain control in children: a comparison with nalbuphine patient controlled analgesia (PCA).

Krechel SW, Helikson MA, Kittle D, Eggers GW Jr.

Department of Anesthesiology, University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine 65212, USA.

This is a retrospective study covering the ten-year period 1984-1993. Single shot spinal morphine (ITM) is compared with PCA nalbuphine for postoperative pain relief in children having abdominal or thoracic procedures. The records of 52 patients meeting selection criteria were examined. Nursing and physician notations were reviewed for hourly pain assessments, evidence of associated complications, respiratory depression, nausea and or vomiting, pruritus, and urinary retention. ITM provided significantly better pain relief (2.2 h in pain) during the first 24 h postoperatively than PCA nalbuphine (9.2 h in pain). With the exception of urinary retention which was significantly more frequent following ITM (58.6%) compared to PCA nalbuphine (8.7%), narcotic related complications were not different between the two groups. No difference in duration of hospital stay or ICU stay could be demonstrated. We conclude that ITM provides better pain relief, without more serious complications, than PCA nalbuphine. We recommend it as a safe, effective technique to treat postoperative pain in children following thoracic or upper abdominal procedures.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7489438&dopt=Abstract pain, pain medicine, pain relief