scholarly journals PALLIATIVE CARE

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 1910-1914
Author(s):  
Ramsha Nadeem ◽  
Samina Qamar ◽  
M. Abbas Khokhar ◽  
Maryam Abid ◽  
Remisha Zahid

Pain is a devastating symptom of advanced cancers. Inadequate assessment and failure in following WHO (World health organization) guidelines for pain management are barriers to pain control in cancer patients. Objectives: To determine frequency of inadequate pain assessment leading to inadequate pain control in advanced stage cancer patients receiving palliative care. Subjects and Methods: 180 patients, within age 18 to 70 years of both genders, of cancer with stage 3 and 4 disease receiving palliative treatment for pain due to primary or metastatic disease requiring opioidanalgesics presenting to inpatient department of Medical Oncology, Mayo Hospital Lahore were selected using non probability, consecutive sampling. Study Design: Cross sectional descriptive study. Setting: Department of Medical Oncology, Mayo Hospital Lahore. Period: 6 months after approval of synopsis from 01.06.2017 to 01.01.2018. The Pain scales used were Numerical Rating Scale- NRS, followed by Visual Analogue Scale-VAS. All patients were evaluated whether or not their pain was assessed by a standard pain scale, the type of malignancy, and the stage of cancer. Results: A total of 180 patients with mean age of 49.68 years, with 62.2% females and 37.8% males were selected. Out of these 124 (68.89%) patientsreceived inadequate assessment for their pain intensity as no documented pain scale was being used to assess them. Out of them 50(49.02%) were males and 52 (50.98%) were females. 56 patients (31.11%) were receiving inadequate pain assessment. 17 (30.35%) of them were assessed using VAS and 39 (69.65%) were assessed using NRS. The median pain score was 7.8/10 with the stage 4 patients mainly presenting with a score of >7/10 (69.94%) and stage 3 patients making up majority of pain with <7/10 score (58.82%). Conclusion: This study showed that pain is poorly managed in patients with advanced malignancy as majority of patients are not assessed according to standard methods for cancer pain. There is a strong need of physicians’ education, development of proper palliative care services and implementation of WHO guidelines to achieve effective pain management for oncology patients. 

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (31_suppl) ◽  
pp. 57-57
Author(s):  
Neha Gupta ◽  
Shipra Gandhi ◽  
Sidra Anwar ◽  
Katy Wang ◽  
Yashodhara Satchidanand

57 Background: Many cancer patients (pts) with GU cancer suffer from uncontrolled pain, and may benefit from more focused palliative care. We assessed the frequency and impact of specialist PCC referrals on pain management of our GU Medical oncology clinic (GUMOC) pts. Methods: 239 consecutive pts were collected from a retrospective review of GUMOC records from 12/1/2013 to 2/28/2014. This group of pts was used to assess the frequency of PCC referral. Pts were divided into two arms- Arm A= GUMOC pts referred to PCC; Arm B: GUMOC pts not referred to PCC. To be able to detect a 15% between the two arms at 95% significance, 37 additional pts (who were already being seen at GUMOC) were collected from retrospective review of PCC records over 9/1/2013 to 2/28/2014. Total 276 pts were divided into Arm A (n=49), Arm B (n=227 pts). Data for baseline pain score and 4-week follow up pain scores were collected. A palliative care screening tool (retrieved from Center to Advance Palliative care [CAPC] website) was used to assign palliative care screening score (PCSS) to all study pts. Chi square test and T-test were used for statistical analysis. Results: Out of the 239 initially collected GUMOC pts, 5% were referred to PCC. 10% (n=24) had PCSS score of ≥ 4, and 33% pts with PCSS ≥ 4 were referred to PCC. Arm A had worse baseline symptoms, ECOG status and more advanced cancer stage. 4-week pain score follow up revealed significant improvement in Arm A -2.74 vs. Arm B -0.13 (p<0.01). Conclusions: GU cancer pts who are referred to PCC from medical oncology clinic have significant decrease in pain symptoms. Frequency of PCC consultation is still low in comprehensive cancer institutes, and not in congruence with the available palliative care screening tools criteria suggested by CAPC. Standardized tools should be developed to guide PCC referrals, and routine use of these tools will significantly help in pain control by seeking specialist palliative care.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 92-99
Author(s):  
Yudhanarko Yudhanarko ◽  
Suwarman Suwarman ◽  
Ricky Aditya

Nyeri didefinisikan sebagai pengalaman sensorik dan emosional yang tidak menyenangkan terkait dengan kerusakan jaringan aktual atau potensial. Manajemen nyeri pada luka bakar merupakan bagian yang tidak terpisahkan dari terapi luka bakar. Nyeri pada luka bakar merupakan nyeri akut, penanganan yang tidak baik akan menyebabkan komplikasi, salah satunya nyeri kronik. Rumah Sakit Umum Pusat (RSUP) Dr. Hasan Sadikin Bandung telah membuat Standar Prosedur Operasional (SPO) manajemen nyeri yang berguna untuk meningkatkan kepatuhan dalam pelaksanaan manajemen nyeri. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengevaluasi kesesuaian teknik pengkajian, tindak lanjut dan evaluasi ulang nyeri pada pasien luka bakar dengan SPO manajemen nyeri. Penelitian menggunakan metode deskriptif observasional retrospektif terhadap 99 rekam medis pasien luka bakar yang memenuhi kriteria inklusi di RSUP Dr. Hasan Sadikin Bandung pada tahun 2018. Hasil penelitian didapatkankan bahwa pengkajian nyeri yang dilakukan sesuai dengan SPO menggunakan numeric rating scale atau Wong Baker faces pain scale ditemukan pada 99 pasien (100%). Tindak lanjut hasil pengkajian nyeri luka bakar yang dilakukan sesuai dengan SPO sebanyak 71 pasien (72%). Evaluasi ulang setelah tindak lanjut pengkajian nyeri yang sesuai SPO pada 93 pasien (94%). Simpulan, pengkajian nyeri di RSUP Dr. Hasan Sadikin Bandung sudah sesuai dengan SPO manajemen nyeri, namun tindak lanjut dan evaluasi ulang pada nyeri luka bakar belum sesuai dengan SPO manajemen nyeri.Evaluation of Compliance to Standard Operating Procedures for Pain Management in Patients with Burns in Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital BandungPain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience related to actual or potential tissue damage. Pain management for burns is an integral part of burn therapy. Pain in burns is an acute pain and poor management will lead to health complications including chronic pain. Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung has made a standard operating procedure (SOP) for pain management to improve compliance to pain management standard. This study aimed to evaluate the compliance to the standards in assessment techniques, follow-up, and re-evaluation of pain in patients with burn according to the applicable pain management SOP. This was a retrospective descriptive observational study on 99 medical records of burn patients who met the inclusion criteria in Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung in 2018. The results of the study revealed that the pain assessment for these patient was carried out according to the SOP which refers to the use of a numeric rating scale or Wong Baker face pain scale in 99 patients (100%). In the follow-up, 71 were performed according to the SOP (72%) while the re-evaluation was performed in compliance with the SOP in 93 patients (94%). In conclusion, pain assessment in Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital Bandung is performed in accordance with SOP on pain management but not all patients receive follow-up and re-evaluation of burn pain in accordance with the SOP on pain management. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e18672-e18672
Author(s):  
Aaron Chan ◽  
Radu Firtat ◽  
Christopher Metchnikoff ◽  
Phillis Wu ◽  
Katherine Yu

e18672 Background: In the 4 years since inception, the palliative care (PC) clinic at Olive-View UCLA Medical Center (OVMC) cared for less than 6% of pain-positive cancer patients based on guidelines put forth by ASCO. As with other under-resourced safety-net settings, the demand for PC services at OVMC far exceeds the manpower available for optimal pain management in oncology patients. This year long project aims to improve pain management in a busy oncology clinic via enhanced identification and prompt treatment of cancer pain by Oncologists. Methods: At the project start, Oncologists were surveyed to identify key elements to be incorporated into formal didactics on pain management principles, case-based discussions and real-time mentoring. At the weekly oncology clinic, patients were screened for pain using the multi-modal PEG scale: Average Pain intensity (P), interference with Enjoyment of life (E), and interference with General activity (G) over the preceding week. The Oncologist was notified of the PEG score if a patient had an average score ≥4 (0-10 scale) for review and intervention. Patients were screened using the same method at subsequent visits. EHR of patients with PEG scores ≥4 were reviewed to determine whether therapeutic interventions were made by the Oncologist. A comparison of PEG scores to the standard nursing intake pain scores was also conducted. Results: Over a 4-month period, 513 PEG forms were administered, 37% of which resulted in a pain score ≥4. Of the 172 patients who screened positive, 54 patients were screened at follow up visit(s). Comparing the pain-positive cohort, we observed an average decrease in pain by 25.5% (7.1 to 5.3) in patients who received intervention as opposed to 7.4% (5.0 to 4.7) in patients who did not receive intervention by their Oncologist. Further, there was a remarkable divergence between the average PEG score (6.7) and nurse intake pain score (1.4) in this patient cohort. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that improved Oncologist real-time pain assessment and intervention incorporating a validated pain screening tool leads to timely pain management in cancer patients. Implementation of a Palliative Care-Oncology partnership promotes provider awareness and confidence in treating patients with complex pain. A functional pain assessment, using PEG, can more accurately reflect pain compared to the current standard nursing intake process. Particularly in resource challenged settings where access to PC is limited, facilitating timely pain management through training and mentoring of oncologists or other primary providers can be a sustainable model to improve patient access to primary palliative care. Given the early indicators of success we hope to expand this workflow in training other healthcare providers within our County safety net system. Research Sponsor: California Health Care Foundation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rizky Iman Kurniawan ◽  
Arie Utariani ◽  
Dedi Susila

Introduction: Most cancer cases in Indonesia are diagnosed at an advanced stage, and the cure rate and life expectancy are not as expected. Depression and pain are the most common problems that arise in cancer patients. Kynurenic acid and quinolinic acid are neuroactive metabolites produced in the kynurenine pathway. Decreased kynurenic acid levels have been reported to be associated with depression, pain, and pathology in cancer. Objective: This study aims to determine the correlation between kynurenic acid levels and the severity of depression, pain level, and opioid need in cancer patients undergoing palliative treatment. Material and Method: This study was an observational analytic study with a retrospective cohort design. The study population was adult patients with malignancy in the palliative care unit of Dr. Soetomo General Hospital Surabaya that received opioid treatment during the study period. The sample of this study was 54 patients. Plasma kynurenic acid levels were measured using the ‘Human Kynurenic acid ELISA kit’ from BT Lab. The severity of depression was measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Pain level was scored with Pain Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), while the opioid use was collected from the patient’s medical record. Result and Discussion: There was a significant relationship between kynurenic acid levels and the severity of depression (p<0.001), pain level (p<0,001), and opioid need (p=0,007). Simple linear regression analysis showed that the lower the kynurenic acid level, the more severe the depression (p<0.001) and the higher the opioid dose needed (p=0,004). Moderate pain has a lower median kynurenic acid level than mild pain, 12.32 nmol/L, and 16.29 nmol/L, respectively. Patients with a lower level of kynurenic acid require a higher dose of the same type of opioid. Conclusion: The lower level of plasma kynurenic acid is associated with more severe depression, more pain level, and more opioid need for pain management in malignancy patients in the palliative care unit of Dr. Soetomo General Hospital Surabaya.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. 3056
Author(s):  
Ada Holak ◽  
Michał Czapla ◽  
Marzena Zielińska

Background: The all-too-frequent failure to rate pain intensity, resulting in the lack of or inadequacy of pain management, has long ceased to be an exclusive problem of the young patient, becoming a major public health concern. This study aimed to evaluate the methods used for reducing post-traumatic pain in children and the frequency of use of such methods. Additionally, the methods of pain assessment and the frequency of their application in this age group were analysed. Methods: A retrospective analysis of 2452 medical records of emergency medical teams dispatched to injured children aged 0–18 years in the area around Warsaw (Poland). Results: Of all injured children, 1% (20 out of 2432) had their pain intensity rated, and the only tool used for this assessment was the numeric rating scale (NRS). Children with burns most frequently received a single analgesic drug or cooling (56.2%), whereas the least frequently used method was multimodal treatment combining pharmacotherapy and cooling (13.5%). Toddlers constituted the largest percentage of patients who were provided with cooling (12%). Immobilisation was most commonly used in adolescents (29%) and school-age children (n = 186; 24%). Conclusions: Low frequency of pain assessment emphasises the need to provide better training in the use of various pain rating scales and protocols. What is more, non-pharmacological methods (cooling and immobilisation) used for reducing pain in injured children still remain underutilized.


2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEIKO TAMURA ◽  
KAORI ICHIHARA ◽  
EIKO MAETAKI ◽  
KEIKO TAKAYAMA ◽  
KUMI TANISAWA ◽  
...  

Objective: This research explores the potential benefit of a spiritual pain assessment sheet to clinical practice. With spiritual pain defined as “pain caused by extinction of the being and meaning of the self,” the spiritual pain assessment sheet was developed by Hisayuki Murata from his conceptual framework reflecting the three dimensions of a human being as a being founded on temporality, a being in relationship, and a being with autonomy. The assessment sheet was developed from reviews of the literature and examinations from a philosophical perspective on the structure of spiritual pain.Methods: Patients admitted to palliative care units in Japan were interviewed using the assessment sheet. The responses were analyzed qualitatively. The usefulness of the assessment sheet and the burden placed on the patients by its use were also investigated.Results: The spiritual pain elucidated by the assessment sheet was the same as that revealed in the earlier research of Morita. The patients reported that they did not find the use of the assessment sheet a burden, and more than half reported that it was useful. The burden of the assessment sheet on the subjects was thus determined to be low. Positive feedback on the assessment sheet was also received from the nurses who conducted the patient interviews, who said the assessment sheet made it easier to talk with the patients about their spiritual pain.Significance of research: The research results indicate that the spiritual pain assessment sheet provided an appropriate assessment of spiritual pain among terminal cancer patients, showing that such a sheet could be used as an assessment tool in the future.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e24078-e24078
Author(s):  
Harold Nathan C. Tan ◽  
Rogelio Nona Velasco ◽  
Lance Isidore Garcenila Catedral ◽  
Michael Ducusin San Juan ◽  
Corazon Ngelangel ◽  
...  

e24078 Background: Pain is one of the most common and dreaded sequelae of cancer, occurring in approximately 55% of patients. The experience of pain takes a toll on the patients’ quality of life. However, many patients do not receive adequate pain management. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of pain, its severity, and the adequacy of pain management among cancer patients in the Philippines. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a representative cancer center in the Philippines, enrolling 351 cancer patients. Pain severity was assessed using the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF) Filipino. The BPI evaluates pain severity and its impact on daily functioning (pain interference). To ascertain the adequacy of pain control, the pain management index (PMI) was calculated by subtracting the subtracting the severity of pain reported by the patient from the type of analgesic treatment received. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the factors associated with worst pain and adequacy of pain management. Data were analyzed using Stata version 16.0, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05. Results: Three hundred three cancer patients (86.3%) experienced pain. Approximately 3 out of 5 patients (n = 208) did not receive adequate pain control, and one-third of patients experienced severe pain (n = 121). Patients who reported severe pain interference (n = 110) had three times greater odds to experience severe pain (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.82-5.61, p < 0.001). Those patients who had regular follow up were 65% less likely to experience severe pain (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.16 – 0.78, p = 0.01). Patients who used pain medications (n = 196) were 14 times more likely to experience adequate pain management (OR 14.19, 95% CI 6.53 – 30.83, p < 0.001). Patients who were referred to pain service (n = 25) were seven times more likely to report adequate pain control (OR 6.62, 95% CI 2.50 – 17.56, p < 0.001). Conversely, those patients who reported a severe rating on total pain interference were 75% less likely to experience adequate pain management (OR 0.25, 95% CI 0.17 – 0.35, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Unexpectedly, there was a high prevalence of pain among cancer patients at a representative cancer center in the Philippines. Pain exerts a heavy toll on patients, affecting daily functioning. The undertreatment of pain discovered in this study (59% of cancer patients) is alarming. Timely pain evaluation can help identify the presence of pain and the need for appropriate use of analgesics. The assessment and management of pain is a critical component of cancer care that should not be neglected.


Author(s):  
Judith A. Paice

Pain is one of the most common and most feared symptoms experienced by those with serious illness. The nurse’s role begins with assessment and continues through the development of a plan of care and its implementation. During this process, the nurse provides education and counseling to the patient, family, and other team members. Nurses also are critical for developing institutional policies and monitoring outcomes that ensure good pain management for all patients within their palliative care program. To provide optimal pain control, all healthcare professionals must understand the frequency of pain at the end of life, the barriers that prevent good management, the comprehensive assessment of this syndrome, and the treatments used to provide relief. Effective pain control and alleviation of suffering is highly dependent upon the strength of clinician, patient, and family communication and relationship. These are key strengths of nursing, at all phases of palliative care.


2019 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2019-001871
Author(s):  
Sarah Barry Lincoln ◽  
Enrique Soto-Perez-de-Celis ◽  
Yanin Chavarri-Guerra ◽  
Alfredo Covarrubias-Gomez ◽  
Mariana Navarro ◽  
...  

BackgroundPain control is an essential component of high-quality palliative care. Unfortunately, many low-income and middle-income countries lack an appropriate infrastructure to provide palliative care and suffer from a severe lack of access to opioid analgesics to alleviate pain from various conditions such as cancer.ObjectivesWe aimed to review the history and current status of cancer pain management in Mexico, a middle-income Latin American country. Our objective was to identify existing barriers to proper, effective opioid use, as well as provide practical recommendations for improvement.MethodsUsing a search of EBSCOhost database, PubMed and Google, we found official documents and peer-reviewed articles related to health legislation, opioid consumption, palliative care infrastructure and palliative care training in Mexico.ResultsDespite advances in palliative care and access to opioids in Mexico, there are still several barriers that undermine effective pain management, showing a major gap between policy and practice. Although Mexican legislation and guidelines include adequate palliative care and pain control as a right for all patients with cancer, the lack of adequate infrastructure and trained personnel severely hampers the implementation of these policies. Additionally, there are important barriers to prescribing opioids, many of which are related to attempts at reducing the consumption of recreational drugs.ConclusionsAlthough Mexico has made significant improvements in pain control and palliative care, much needs to be done. Expansion of drug availability, improvement of palliative care training, and constant oversight of regulations and guidelines will help to strengthen Mexico’s palliative care services.


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