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Query: UMLS:C0344307 (analgesia)
 28,200 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

During a twelve-month period, 416 children with acute abdominal pain required emergency admission to Southampton General Hospital; 46% had operations. Appendicitis was the commonest organic cause of acute abdominal pain identified (31%). Constipation (9%) can present as acute abdominal pain simulating appendicitis. All children should have a urine sample examined microscopically and the finding of significant pyuria is suggestive, but not diagnostic, of a urinary tract infection (7%). Mesenteric adenitis, which can only be diagnosed with certainty at laparotomy, was less common (4%). Despite careful clinical assessment and follow up, 45% of children in this series remained undiagnosed. Sedation but not analgesia may assist in the diagnosis of the acute abdomen in children.
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PMID:Acute abdominal pain in children. 724 73

Intraspinal delivery of opioids is a proven method of pain management therapy for severe cancer pain. Effective analgesia can be achieved with spinal opioid infusions while minimizing central side effects such as sedation, nausea, and severe constipation. Indications for intraspinal opioids include unmanageable side effects with increasing doses of oral or parenteral opioids or little or no pain relief with increasing dosages of strong opioids. The purpose of this case study is to illustrate the multidisciplinary approach required and multiple analgesics needed to effectively assess and manage a challenging pain management situation. This patient required the administration of intraspinal morphine, intravenous hydromorphone, and intravenous midazolam in order to effectively manage his pain. The use of spinal analgesia and multiple analgesics offers challenges to oncology and hospice nurses but is an effective modality for otherwise intractable cancer pain.
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PMID:High-tech pain management utilizing multiple analgesics--a case study. 769 2

More than 60% of cancer patients suffers from unbearable pain, especially towards their terminal stages. Anaesthesiologists are involved in cancer pain management because of their expertise in analgesic pharmacology and neurolytic procedures. This manuscript reported on the experience of treating cancer pain in Chinese patient in Hong Kong with reference to current literature in other parts of the world. One hundred and sixty two Chinese patients were referred from other specialists to the Department of Anaesthesiology, Queen Mary Hospital for further management because of their cancer pain control were considered difficult. Upon referral, the mean visual analogue scale of pain (VAS) was 5.8 +/- 2.7. The pain caused insomnia (66.7%) and appetite loss (45%) as well. By far most (80%) patients' pain were successively controlled with oral systemic analgesics. These were prescribed in form of a combination of NSAID (72.2%), potent opioids (76.5%) and co-analgesics (21.6%). In our series, the mean oral morphine (MS Continus) requirements was 96.0 +/- 68.3 mg on discharge. Frequent nausea and constipation persisted in 16.0% and 8.0% respectively despite active treatment with anti-emetics and laxatives. Twenty eight neurolytic blocks was performed in 22 (13.6%) patients. Good pain relief was achieved in 78.6%. Overall speaking most patients (90.7%) were able to achieve adequate analgesia before death.
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PMID:Cancer pain management: a recent experience by anaesthesiologists in a teaching hospital in Hong Kong. 792 65

In a prospective study 60 patients receiving morphine for treatment of mostly neuropathic and musculoskeletal pain of non-malignant origin were investigated. The aim of the study was to determine the characteristics of responders to morphine therapy and the frequency and severity of side effects. METHODS. Eligible patients suffered from chronic pain that had not been relieved despite all current therapy. All of them received controlled-release morphine tablets. Dose was increased in case of insufficient pain relief. Before morphine treatment and at the follow-ups pain intensity was rated on a numeric analogous scale, analgesia and side effects on a four-stage verbal rating scale. Intake of the prescribed and other drugs was randomly controlled by urine analysis. The patients were divided in three groups retrospectively: group I, non-responders who ceased the morphine therapy within 1 month due to weak analgesia or severe side effects; group II, patients in whom the therapy was stopped within the following months despite persisting pain; group III, patients who continued therapy. STATISTICS. ANOVA, chi-squared test, non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis, Wilcoxon). Results were accepted as significant at p < 0.05. RESULTS. Twenty-three patients were non-responders. Fourteen other patients stopped the therapy after initial response because the side effects exceeded the benefit of analgesia (group II). Only 10 of the remaining 23 responders had good analgesia and minor side effects during the observation time. Constipation, despite prophylactic laxatives, and nausea were the most frequently reported events causing cessation of therapy. Analgesia and side effects in groups II and III were constant during the observation time of 241 (36-1486) days. In groups II and III, 43% of the patients needed an increase of the morphine dosage during therapy. The initially sufficient morphine dosage was significantly higher in group II than in group III; only one patient needed more than 90 mg/day in group III. Urine screening tests in 45 patients disclosed that 18 patients concealed the intake of other opioids or psychotropic drugs, mostly benzodiazepines. CONCLUSIONS. The study showed many problems with the patients' compliance and acceptance of oral morphine due to side effects and lack of analgesia. The discrepancy from other, positive reports might be explained by the extremely selected patients of this study and by the fact that not only responders were included for evaluation. Patients' compliance seems to have been overestimated in previous studies because no urinary controls were taken.
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PMID:[Morphine tablets for chronic non-tumor-induced pain. Which factors modify the success or failure of a long-term therapy?]. 836 76

Some practices and procedures that are common during the management of childbirth lack proof of efficacy, and some have adverse effects. The practice of withholding food and liquids and using intravenous fluids during labor may pose risks such as fluid overload, and maternal and fetal hyperglycemia. Enemas should be reserved for women with painful constipation. Evidence does not support the value of shaving the perineal area. Nonpharmacologic measures to control pain during labor are safe and moderately effective. Pharmacologic methods of analgesia and anesthesia provide good pain relief but pose significant risks. Continuous electronic fetal monitoring should be considered a diagnostic procedure, not a screening procedure. Amniotomy may shorten labor but can result in abnormally high uterine forces, infection, umbilical cord prolapse and fetal laceration. Position changes and alternative birth positions promote greater comfort and efficiency during labor. Finally, episiotomy has not been shown to reduce severe lacerations or prevent pelvic relaxation, and use of this procedure should be limited.
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PMID:The rational management of labor. 811 11

Gastrointestinal integrity with intact function are of main importance in critically ill patients, and not only as a route of nutritional support. Drugs used for long-term sedation can lead to disordered gastrointestinal motility. In this study we compared the influence of different combinations of analgesics and sedatives on the intestinal function in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients. METHODS. A total of 190 patients were evaluated retrospectively. All patients required controlled mechanical ventilation and deep sedation (Ramsay Score 5-6) for 7 days or more due to acute respiratory failure or elevated intracranial pressure. In none of these patients was enteric tube feeding contraindicated. Intact intestinal function was assumed when full enteric tube feeding was achieved on days 5 and 6 of the treatment period. Furthermore, other gastrointestinal motility disorders (e.g. constipation) had to be absent. In all patients the feeding tube was placed in the stomach by the nasogastric route. Corresponding to different combinations of analgesics and sedatives, the 190 patients were divided into 11 groups. The following combinations were used: group 1 (n = 20), fentanyl+flunitrazepam; group 2 (n = 20), fentanyl+midazolam; group 3 (n = 20), fentanyl+thiopentone; group 4 (n = 20) piritramide+midazolam; group 5 (n = 20), piritramide and continuous epidural administration of bupivacaine+midazolam; group 6 (n = 20), piritramide+gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA); group 7 (n = 20), ketamine+midazolam; group 8 (n = 10), ketamin+methohexitone; group 9 (n = 20), ketamine+propofol; group 10 (n = 10), ketamine+midazolam and GABA; group 11 (n = 10), sufentail+midazolam and methohexitone. Patients in groups 3, 8, 9, 10, and 11 all had severe head injury and elevated intracranial pressure. Group 6 was made up exclusively of elderly patients (> 65 years) without head trauma. RESULTS. The patients in groups 1, 2, and 3 received fentanyl for analgesia and were completely fed by enteric tube in 30%, 35%, and 15% of cases, respectively. In group 3 deep sedation was necessary because of elevated intracranial pressure. In groups 4, 5, and 6, piritramide was administered for analgesia, and normal enteric tube feeding was achieved in 70%, 75%, and 90% of cases. The best results were seen in group 6, and these elderly patients needed smaller amounts of piritramide for analgesia. In groups 7, 8, 9, and 10, ketamine was given for analgesia, and complete enteric tube feeding was carried out in 75%, 30%, 45%, and 60% of these patients. The best results in the ketamine groups were found in combination with midazolam as the sedating drug; however, the patients in group 7 did not have elevated intracranial pressure, in contrast to the patients in groups 8, 9, and 10. The last group received the combination of sufentanil, midazolam and methohexitone to achieve a deep sedation. The rate of normal enteric tube feeding in these patients with severe head trauma was 30%. CONCLUSIONS. In patients with severe head trauma who need deep sedation to prevent dangerous high intracranial pressure, gastrointestinal motility disorders are very commonly found. The results obtained suggest that ketamine should be regarded as the analgesic drug of choice, combined with propofol rather than a high-dose barbiturate therapy. The combination of ketamine with midazolam and GABA is an unusual strategy for long-term sedation, which resulted from our own clinical studies directed at an effective and well-tolerated regime for this high-risk patient group. Obviously, high-dose barbiturates and short-acting opioids, especially when combined, make enteric tube feeding more difficult. Therefore, we recommend piritramide or ketamine for analgesia. The basic sedating drug is midazolam, in special cases combined with or replaced by propofol. The position of GABA in long-term sedation is not yet clear, but a lack of side effects on the gastrointestinal tract became evident in this stud
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PMID:[The effects of long-term sedation on intestinal function]. 859 66

Methylnaltrexone is a quaternary opioid antagonist with limited ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and the potential to antagonize the peripherally mediated effects of opioids. The effectiveness of methylnaltrexone in preventing morphine-induced changes in gastrointestinal motility and transit without affecting analgesia was evaluated in humans. Twelve healthy volunteers were given intravenous placebo, placebo plus 0.05 mg/kg morphine, or 0.45 mg/kg methylnaltrexone plus 0.05 mg/kg morphine. Oral-cecal transit time was assessed by the pulmonary hydrogen measurement technique, and analgesia was measured with use of the cold-pressor test. Morphine significantly increased oral-cecal transit time from 104.6 +/- 31.1 minutes (mean +/- SD) to 163.3 +/- 39.8 minutes (p < 0.01). Methylnaltrexone prevented 97% of morphine-induced increase in oral-cecal transit time (106.3 +/- 39.8 minutes; not significant compared with baseline; p < 0.01 compared with morphine alone). Methylnaltrexone did not affect the analgesic effect of morphine on both pain intensity and pain bothersomeness ratings. At a higher dose of morphine (0.1 mg/kg), our preliminary results indicated that 0.45 mg/kg methylnaltrexone also prevented the morphine-induced delay in oral-cecal transit time, with no effect on analgesia. Methylnaltrexone may be a useful adjunct to opioids for the relief of opioid-induced constipation.
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PMID:Methylnaltrexone prevents morphine-induced delay in oral-cecal transit time without affecting analgesia: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial. 861 93

Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) was administered in the domiciliary environment in 143 pre-terminally and terminally ill tumour patients suffering either from excruciating chronic pain or severe chronic/acute complex pain that could not be relieved adequately by oral analgesia. Morphine solutions were infused subcutaneously in concentrations between 1% and 3%. The intravenous route was preferred in patients with indwelling catheters or those susceptible to inflammatory skin reactions at the infusion site. After initial dose adjustment, lasting 2-3 days, the morphine amounts infused by PCA reached a median of 93 mg day(-1) (range 12-464 mg day(-1)). The median was 28% lower than the median dose administered orally. A total of 84% of patients utilized the option of bolus self-administration. The median percentage administered via the bolus mode amounted to 5.3% of the total requirements. During the course of treatment, morphine requirements increased by a median of 2.3 mg day(-1) (range -29 +52 mg day(-1)). Most patients were treated continuously in the home care setting until death, the median duration being 27 days (range 1-437 days). The terminal morphine demands reached a median of 188 mg day(-1) (range 15-1008 mg day(-1)). PCA turned out to be safe and effective, attaining excellent results in 95 (66%) patients and satisfactory pain relief in 43 (30%). PCA proved to be insufficient in five (4%) cases. Side-effects were mild: constipation, fatigue, nausea and local inflammatory skin reactions occurred in 9%. Thus, with support from an experienced mobile nursing team, PCA can be safely administered in the terminal domiciliary care of tumour patients. PCA is superior to oral analgesia, especially in the treatment of severe oscillating pain. PCA provides adequate pain control in about 96% of patients who are poorly responsive to oral opioids.
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PMID:Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) in the domiciliary care of tumour patients. 862 40

A retrospective case note audit was conducted in order to determine the most prevalent symptoms in terminal dementia and to assess the palliation given. Seventeen case notes were audited. Pain and dyspnoea were the most common symptoms. The palliation and treatment of constipation and oral candidiasis was within current accepted practice. Palliation of other symptoms were inadequate compared to current accepted practice. There appears to be a reluctance to prescribe opiate analgesia, and when this was prescribed the doses were not modified to achieve full pain or symptomatic relief. Many patients were unable to take medication orally, but syringe drivers were not used. The conclusions include the need for education of both nursing and medical staff as to the current principles of palliative care.
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PMID:An audit of palliative care in dementia. 871 71

Initial dose finding in patients with cancer pain who are started on TTS fentanyl (Duragesic, TTS-F) is often unsatisfactory with currently recommended doses and intervals. Acknowledging that studies reveal a "psuedo steady state" 15 to 20 hr after application of TTS-F, we prospectively investigated an increased initial dose and day-to-day titration of TTS-F in 39 (evaluable) patients with uncontrolled cancer pain. Significant pain reduction (P = 0.001) was seen after 24 hr, and satisfactory analgesia was achieved within 48 h and maintained for the rest of the study. Significant increases in TTS-F were necessary during weeks 1 through 4 to maintain pain control. Forty-nine percent of the patients needed one or more early dose increases. Only one patient had side effects partially due to the specific properties of the TTS. Other side effects seemed to be less common compared with usual morphine treatment. TTS-F can be titrated effectively and safely on a day-to-day basis with an increased initial dose and adequate patient monitoring, thus avoiding more complicated approaches. TTS-F seemed to induce less constipation than might be expected.
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PMID:Day-to-day titration to initiate transdermal fentanyl in patients with cancer pain: short- and long-term experiences in a prospective study of 39 patients. 885 70


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