Oral Methadone for Patients With Neuropathic Pain Due to Neoplastic Brachial Plexopathy

Introduction: The brachial plexus nerves originate from the cervical (C5-C8) and first thoracic (T1) spinal nerves, and innervate muscles and skin of the chest, shoulder, arm and hand. Brachial plexus injuries can occur as a result of shoulder trauma and inflammation. Malignant tumors can also cause neoplastic brachial plexopathy (NBP), and refractory neuropathic pain is the most common symptom of NBP. Methadone is a synthetic opioid with high efficacy as an opioid-receptor agonist, and its inhibitory effects on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) may play a role in pain relief. However, there is a need to examine if oral methadone exhibits safety and efficacy against neuropathic pain due to NBP. Case Presentations: NBP was diagnosed in 3 cases without brain or cervical spine metastasis. The clinical features of these patients were analyzed retrospectively. None of the cases had an indication for surgery because of advanced cancer and all had received radiation therapy that had an insufficient effect, prior to methadone treatment. All 3 patients had nociceptive and neuropathic pain. Methadone for refractory pain was initiated using the stop-and-go method. NRS pain scores decreased in all cases and there were no severe side effects. Discussion: For the purpose of pain relief, patients with NBP may receive surgery, radiation therapy and nerve block, but these are not always effective. Methadone was recently shown to be superior to fentanyl in treating neuropathic pain in patients with head-and-neck cancer in a RCT, and our findings suggest that methadone may also be effective for patients with NBP. Conclusion: More studies are necessary, but results in 3 cases suggest that oral methadone may be a safe analgesic agent for patients with neuropathic pain due to NBP.

587 Methadone and Morphine for Outpatient CO2 Laser Pain Management

Introduction Burn reconstruction with CO2 laser is now very popular. Providing adequate analgesia is imperative for large total body surface area (TBSA) resurfacing. CO2 lasers’ cause significant pain during the procedure and pain similar to that of a severe sunburn post-operatively. Thus, adequate analgesia that provides peri-operative and post discharge management without delaying discharge is beneficial. At our institution, we use a multimodal analgesic preoperative and intra-operative approach to deal with this issue. The preoperative intervention utilizes a novel approach of oral methadone for older children and avoids the use of intra-operative morphine as a preemptive measure for pain management. The purpose of this outcomes review was to determine if our peri-operative analgesic practices were effective in controlling peri-operative pain. Methods After corporate IRB review, this project was undertaken as a quality improvement initiative and was not formally supervised by an institutional review board. A chart review of all patients who received CO2 laser treatment (CLT) was conducted. Using a Donabedian model for outcomes measure, postoperative and pre-discharge observational pain scores (scale 1–10), peri-operative analgesics, demographics, percent burn treated, incidents of rescue medication before discharge home, time to discharge and adverse reactions were collected. Results 74 patients were reviewed (47 male, 27 female), ages 4 to 30, average age 17. Average percent body surface area treated was 17.5%. Out of 74 cases, 18 received intra-operative morphine and 56 received oral methadone pre-operatively. All patients received routine intra-operative ketorolac and lidocaine/prilocaine cream, based on weight. In the PACU there were 2 recorded rescue doses of morphine in the morphine group and 0 in the methadone group. There was one post- operative recorded observational pain score of 5 in the methadone group and one each of 3 and 8 in the morphine group, both of which received rescue morphine. There were no differences in mean times to discharge between groups. Observational pain scores were 0 for both groups at discharge. Chi square analysis showed no statistical difference between groups. No adverse outcomes (respiratory arrest or readmission for pain) were recorded in either group. Conclusions Both pre-operative oral methadone and intra-operative morphine are effective in controlling peri-operative pain in our children undergoing laser surgery. Categorical age differences and low group sizes may have contributed to outcomes and should be considered in the next review.

Oral Methadone for Cancer Pain Management at the End of Life: A Forgotten Drug

Background: Opioids are used for pain management in cancer patients. Morphine is considered the best option. For some patients with pain of difficult control management and adverse effects, an opioid rotation should be considered. Oral methadone is an opioid to which patients can be rotated safely and effectively and inexpensive for Mexico and Latin America. Our study describes the 9-year experience of opioid rotation to methadone, the population profile, efficacy of methadone in cancer patients of the palliative care service. Methods: Retrospective study of cancer patients rotated to oral methadone for pain control. Tables of frequencies, median and interquartile ranges were made, as well as overall survival. Results: 311 patients were rotated to methadone, predominantly males (58.5%), median age of 54 years with oncological diagnoses in cervix (10.3%), germinal tumors (8.4%), breast (8.0%), prostate (7.4%) and rectal (5.5%). These patients experienced visceral (17.6%) or other types of pain (68.6%), and a combination of different types of pain, the most prevalent pain was neuropathic (88.7%) and 50% received morphine, 21% buprenorphine or fentanyl 19% previously, with a median dose of 60 mg (30-120). The main reason for rotation was difficult pain control (54%), obtaining an efficacy of 70.0%. Conclusion: In this cohort at advanced disease stage, 54% suffered from difficult pain control, thus rotation became necessary, reducing pain and manageable adverse events, without major changes of the initial and final dose. Should be promoted more widely in the management of pain of difficult control by cancer in first position prescription.

Morphine infusor pump switch to oral methadone

Between 2014 and 2017, four patients with widespread cancer were referred to a home palliative care team from a hospital in Oviedo (Spain) with subcutaneous elastomeric infusion pump containing 180–260 mg/day of morphine for previously uncontrolled pain. 3–4 rotations were performed over 5–11 days, gradually substituting morphine for oral methadone (three times a day) to minimise the risks of rapid conversion, with a highly variable final subcutaneous morphine:oral methadone ratio (5:1 to 17:1), guided by the absence of pain, and to enhance the patient’s functional capacity avoiding device dependence. The final methadone dose varied between 15 and 39 mg/day. There was daily telephone supervision and visits every 2–4 days. Patient demise occurred 56, 111, 168 and 350 days following the opioid conversion, and methadone was maintained until then. In all cases and prior to concluding the rotation, pain was controlled and sleepiness had subsided.