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Query: UMLS:C0030193 (pain)
 261,466 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sedation is a clinically important therapeutic intervention in the imminently dying patient. As the patient with an advanced, irreversible illness nears the end of life, symptoms accumulate that are progressively more difficult to manage and that may become refractory to standard medical interventions. The most common of these intractable symptoms are pain, agitated delirium, dyspnea, and existential or psychological distress. Various therapeutic options available for relieving these symptoms include physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, acceptance of unrelieved suffering, and terminal sedation. Some commentators have voiced concerns that sedating the imminently dying patient inevitably hastens death, and that this practice, in fact, is a surrogate form of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia. Ethical arguments invoked to support the use of terminal sedation include the principle of double effect, which draws a moral distinction between the intention of an act (in this case, to relieve suffering) and its foreseen but unintended consequence (premature death). This author views sedation as a necessary, although risk-laden, procedure that, if practiced by trained, dedicated clinicians, maintains the physician's twin obligations to benefit patients and to "do no harm."
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PMID:Sedation in the imminently dying patient. 1082 17

Butorphanol and detomidine constitute an effective combination for sedation and analgesia in horses. This trial was undertaken to assess the effectiveness of this combination in donkeys. The detomidine and butorphanol were given intravenously one after the other. A dose of 10 microg/kg of detomidine and 25 microg/kg of butorphanol was used. Sedation is easily extended by additional doses of butorphanol. The average dose of detomidine was 11.24 microg/kg and that of butorphanol was 28.0 microg/kg. Four donkeys in the detomidine group required additional sedation and analgesia. Detomidine alone did not totally eliminate coronary band pain. Heart rates dropped significantly in the first minute after the injection of the combination. One donkey developed an atrioventricular block, while another developed a sino-atrial block. Four donkeys developed a Cheyne-Stokes respiratory pattern. The combination of detomidine and butorphanol is an effective combination for sedation and analgesia of donkeys for standing procedures.
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PMID:The sedative and analgesic effects of detomidine-butorphanol and detomidine alone in donkeys. 1085 80

A patient acceptability study was conducted using patient-controlled intranasal diamorphine. Patients undergoing nonemergency orthopaedic or gynaecological surgery self-administered intranasal diamorphine for 24 h postoperatively. Pain, pain relief, sedation, respiratory rate, nausea and vomiting were assessed regularly. After 24 h, patients and their attending nurses completed a questionnaire assessing satisfaction and practical aspects of the technique. Satisfaction was reported as good or complete by 69% of patients and 69% of nurses. Pain relief was assessed as better than expected by 45% of patients and better than normal by 50% of nurses. Seventy-nine per cent of patients would be pleased to use patient-controlled intranasal diamorphine again and 89% of nurses would be happy for their patients to use it again. Sedation was uncommon and mild and there were no episodes of significant respiratory depression. Fifty-three per cent of patients reported no nausea and 74% did not vomit at any stage. There were seven withdrawals, four due to problems with the device and three due to therapeutic problems. The nasal spray may need modification to improve reliability. However, we found patient-controlled intranasal analgesia an effective technique, which was well tolerated by patients and nurses and was without unpleasant side-effects. Further work to determine how it performs compared with intramuscular or intravenous analgesia is now needed.
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PMID:Patient-controlled intranasal diamorphine for postoperative pain: an acceptability study. 1086 15

The study objective was to assess the efficacy and patient acceptance of ketorolac as an alternative to meperidine for the treatment of severe musculoskeletal low back pain (LBP). A double blinded prospective trial in a convenience sample of patients >18 years of age presenting to an urban university hospital emergency department (ED) was conducted over a 19-month period. Patients were included if the pain was musculoskeletal in origin and was severe enough to warrant parenteral analgesics. Patients were randomized to receive 1 mg/kg meperidine intramuscularly (IM) or 60 mg ketorolac IM. Pain intensity was measured preadministration and at 60 minutes via a 100 mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Outcomes measured at 60 minutes were pain intensity decrease (PID), patient satisfaction, rescue analgesia requirement, sedation level, and adverse effects. Clinically significant pain reduction was defined as a PID of at least 13 mm or a reduction in pain of least 30%. One hundred fifty-five patients were enrolled (meperidine = 75, ketorolac = 80) and 153 patients completed the study. At 60 minutes the mean PID was 7 mm less in the ketorolac group (95% confidence interval [CI] - 15 mm to 2.6 mm). Pain reduction of at least 30% occurred in 63% of the ketorolac group versus 67% of the meperidine group (95% CI, odds ratio [OR] .43 to 1.61). Rescue analgesia was required in 35% of the ketorolac group versus 37% of the meperidine group (95% CI, OR .47 to 1.74). Patient satisfaction was less in the ketorolac group (ketorolac 68% satisfied versus meperidine 74% satisfied) however this was not significant (95% CI, OR .66 to 2.72). Sedation level and adverse effects were significantly greater in the meperidine group. Ketorolac shows comparable single dose analgesic efficacy to a single moderate dose of meperidine with less sedation and adverse effects in an ED population with severe musculoskeletal LBP. The trend for greater pain reduction and patient satisfaction with meperidine needs further investigation.
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PMID:Ketorolac versus meperidine: ED treatment of severe musculoskeletal low back pain. 1091 28

A nationwide prospective study was conducted in France in 89 university and primary referral hospitals' liver units to evaluate practices of liver biopsy and the occurrence of complications. A total of 2,084 biopsies were analyzed, recording the indication, hemostasis parameters, experience of operator, route of biopsy, use of ultrasonography (US), type of hospitalization, side effects, and complications. Pain, anxiety, and discomfort were evaluated by patients by visual analogue scale (VAS). Biopsies were performed by experienced physicians (>150 procedures performed) in 72%, and hepato-gastroenterologists in 89% of the cases. Hepatitis C was the indication in 54%. Sedation or premedication (atropine) was given in 46%. US-guidance was used in 56% of the cases. A day-care procedure was used in 27%. No deaths occurred, but severe complications were observed in 0.57% and increased with the number of passes and decreased with experience of operator, use of atropine, and US-guidance. Pain was independently related to general anesthesia, experience of the operator, female sex, and hepatitis C. Anxiety was increased in women. Discomfort was increased by venous access and decreased with an experienced operator. Acceptance of additional biopsies was related to a day-care procedure and independently related to general anesthesia and multiples passes. This study showed that (1) liver biopsy procedures vary greatly in France, (2) hepatitis C is the main indication for liver biopsy at present, (3) US-guidance should be developed to reduce severe complications, and (4) day-care procedures increase acceptance of a future biopsy and should also be used more often.
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PMID:Practices of liver biopsy in France: results of a prospective nationwide survey. For the Group of Epidemiology of the French Association for the Study of the Liver (AFEF). 1096 Apr 38

Tramadol is a weak centrally acting analgesic and it might provide efficacious postoperative pain relief with minimal sedative effects in the use of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). Sixty women scheduled to undergo microvascular breast reconstruction under standard general anaesthesia were enrolled in a study on the performance of patient-controlled analgesia with tramadol or morphine with special emphasis on drug- and technique-related side-effects. Seven patients were re-operated within the same day, leaving 25 patients in the tramadol group and 28 in the morphine group for comparison. When postoperative pain occurred, loading doses of either 10 mg tramadol or 1 mg morphine intravenous increments were administered in a double-blind fashion until the pain control was judged to be satisfactory by the patient. After that the patients received tramadol or morphine by a PCA apparatus (lockout 5 min, tramadol 450 microg kg-1, morphine 45 microg kg-1 bolus). In addition, all patients received 500 mg paracetamol rectally, three times a day. The potency ratio of tramadol to morphine was found to be between 8.5 : 1 (loading) and 11 : 1 (PCA). There was neither a significant difference between the groups in the overall satisfaction of the analgesic medication nor in the visual analogue and verbal rate scales for pain. Women in the tramadol group had more nausea and vomiting during the administration of loading doses (P < 0.05) and more patients in the tramadol group (7) than in the morphine group (3) (NS) wanted to discontinue the PCA therapy before the end of the study due to nausea. Sedation or blurred vision prevented the performance of the psychomotor tests in 22 and 32% of the tramadol and morphine patients, respectively. The remaining patients performed similarly in the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. In women receiving intravenous PCA for analgesia after microvascular breast reconstruction tramadol and morphine provided comparable postoperative analgesia with similar sedative effects. However, tramadol was associated with a disturbingly high incidence of nausea and vomiting.
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PMID:Comparison of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia with tramadol versus morphine after microvascular breast reconstruction. 1096 47

Donepezil, an oral acetylcholinesterase inhibitor approved for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, was given to 6 cancer pain patients having sedation related to the analgesic use of opioids. Each patient was taking more than 200 mg of oral morphine equivalents per day, and several were receiving complex analgesic regimens consisting of multiple adjuvant medications. Sedation improved at least moderately in 5 of the patients and mildly in 1 after they began taking donepezil. Patients reported a decrease in episodes of spontaneous sleeping during the day, fewer myoclonic twitches, improved daily function and greater social interaction. Several also reported improved sleep at night. Analgesia was not compromised by the use of donepezil, and in some cases it appeared improved. Donepezil may be a valuable alternative to psychostimulants in the treatment of opioid-induced sedation. A prospective controlled trial comparing the treatment effects of psychostimulants and donepezil on patients having opioid-induced sedation is underway.
J Pain Symptom Manage 2001 May
PMID:Donepezil in the treatment of opioid-induced sedation: report of six cases. 1136 63

In this randomized, double-blinded, parallel-group study, we compared the efficacy of tramadol and morphine administered IV for the management of pain in trauma patients in the prehospital situation. One-hundred-five patients were randomly allocated to receive tramadol (Group T) or morphine (Group M). The initial dose was 100 mg tramadol in Group T and 5 mg morphine (body weight < or = 70 kg) or 10 mg morphine (body weight >70 kg) in Group M; this could be increased to 200 mg in Group T and 15 or 20 mg in Group M if necessary. Pain intensity was assessed with four-point verbal rating scales. Sedation, physiologic data, and adverse events were also recorded. Analgesia was similar in both groups; the 95% confidence interval for the difference between the decrease in pain intensity observed with tramadol or morphine was -0.26 to 0.30, which was within the predefined equivalence range (-0.50 to 0.50). Neither sedation scores nor physiologic data differed between groups. Tramadol is an acceptable alternative to morphine in the prehospital trauma setting.
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PMID:Tramadol, an alternative to morphine for treating posttraumatic pain in the prehospital situation. 1137 43

This study assessed sedation in terminal cancer patients in terms of three characteristics: frequency; relationship to intractable symptoms; and the extent to which medical staff, family, and patients found sedation to be ethically acceptable and efficacious. Two hundred seventy-six consecutive patients, who were admitted to the palliative care unit of National Taiwan University Hospital in Taiwan between August 1998 and the end of May 1999, were enrolled. A recording form was completed every day. This included demographic data, pain and common symptom scores, and the use of sedation in the terminal phase. Seventy (27.9%) of 251 patients who died received sedation. Sedation was administered to relieve agitated delirium in 40 (57.1%), dyspnea in 16 (22.8%), severe pain in 7 (10%) and insomnia in 5 (7.2%). The drugs used for sedation were haloperidol in 35 (50%), midazolam in 17 (24.3%), and rapidly increasing dosage of morphine in 9 (12.9%). In fewer than half (42.9%) of the patients, sedation was with the consent of both patient and family, and half (50%) had the consent of family alone. The overwhelming majority of medical staff and family felt the decision to use terminal sedation was ethically acceptable. There was no significant difference in survival time between sedated and non-sedated patients (28.49 vs. 24.71 days, t = -0.791, P = 0.430). Positive ethical acceptability and higher satisfaction with symptom control with terminal sedation were found in both medical staff and family in this study. Further work is needed to find the most appropriate time of intervention and to improve management of refractory symptoms in dying patients.
J Pain Symptom Manage 2001 Jun
PMID:Sedation for refractory symptoms of terminal cancer patients in Taiwan. 1139 4

Psychostimulants such as methylphenidate are used for fatigue in cancer patients. We report a prospective, open-label, pilot study of the successful use of methylphenidate to treat fatigue in nine of 11 consecutive patients with advanced cancer. Seven had received radiation or chemotherapy, a median of three weeks (range from one to 30 weeks) prior to methylphenidate. A rapid onset of benefit was noted, even in the presence of mild anemia. Sedation and pain also improved in some. Only one patient had side effects severe enough to stop the medication.
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PMID:Methylphenidate for fatigue in advanced cancer: a prospective open-label pilot study. 1140 95


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