Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0600097 (Sedation)
 1,337 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

General Anaesthesia (GA) is usually stopped early after intracranial surgery. An impaired neurological status or surgical difficulties may lead to sedate some patients (pts) in the intensive care unit (ICU). The aims of the study were to establish and to evaluate predictive criteria for post- operative sedation. In one group (G1), GA and mechanical ventilation (MV) were discontinued early after surgery and pts stayed at least 12 h. in the ICU. In the other group (G2), sedation and MV were prolonged 24 h., until a clinical and scannographic evaluation. Thereafter, sedation was discontinued or prolonged according to both surgical and anesthetic considerations. These criteria were established according to the literature and to local practices. Before surgery, they depended on clinical status, radiological data and etiology; during surgery, on surgical and medical semiology and difficulties or incidents during the procedure. Adult pts undergoing intracranial surgery under GA were consecutively included in a 6 months prospective study. Patients suffering acute head trauma, pre operative coma (Glasgow CS < 8) or extraneurologic disease (responsible for delayed MV weaning) were not included. Sedation was performed with midazolamR (.05-.15 mg.kg-1.h-1) + phenoperidineR without myorelaxation. The ideal level of sedation was established as defined by Boeke. One hundred and ninety five pts (80 f; 49 +/- 15y-o) were included (G1 = 130, G2 = 65). Surgical indications were: malignant tumor = 61, meningioma = 50, vascular disease = 53, other = 31. ICU stay lasted 5.6 +/- 8 d and MV 3.7 +/- 7 d.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[Indications of planned sedation following intracranial neurosurgery. Prospective study of decisional criteria]. 759 51

The purpose of this study was to describe the pain and pain-related symptoms experienced by persons receiving treatment in a cancer center or a hospice and to describe the nurses' responses to these problems. The sample consisted of 25 hospice and 19 cancer center patients who were being treated for pain. Pain was assessed three times in a 24-hour period using a visual analogue scale (VAS). Constipation was assessed using the Constipation Assessment Scale. Sedation was assessed on a 0 (fully alert) to 4 (comatose) scale. The nurses' documentation was assessed using the Chart Audit for Pain. Results showed that patients in the cancer center and hospice continued to experience pain (VAS M = 38.6 and 29.7 respectively) in spite of their pain management regimens. The cancer center patients were given an average of 38% of the maximum ordered dose of analgesic while the hospice patients self-administered 93% of the ordered dose. The cancer center nurses documented the efficacy of the analgesics in only 26% of cases while hospice nurses recorded this information in 96% of the charts. Sedation was not found to be a problem. Constipation was reported by 100% of cancer center patients and 84% of hospice patients but was rarely documented by nurses in either setting. It appears that nurses need to do more thorough assessment of patient symptoms and more consistent follow-up evaluation and documentation.
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PMID:A descriptive study of the management of pain and pain-related side effects in a cancer center and a hospice. 778 43

Flavone acetic acid (FAA, NSC 347512) is a synthetic flavonoid compound with a unique form of preclinical antitumor activity, but its mechanism of action is still not known. In an attempt to exploit the remarkable preclinical activity of this compound in such a way as to allow its use as a clinically useful agent, we performed a phase I and pharmacology study with frequent administration and no hyperhydration or alkalinization. Sixteen patients (9 men, 7 women) were given FAA as 6-h i.v. infusions 2 or 3 times a week (10 and 6 patients, respectively), at doses ranging from 2.5 to 8.1 g/m2. A total of 130 doses were administered during this study. Sedation, arterial hypotension, vomiting and diarrhea were the predominant toxicities observed at the highest dose (8.1 g/m2. One patient developed severe but reversible multiple organ failure. No treatment-related deaths occurred. Pharmacokinetics was linear for the doses studied, with peak plasma levels ranging from 39 to 449 micrograms/ml and a mean terminal half-life of 3.1 h. No drug accumulation was observed with this frequent-administration schedule. No objective response was observed. Three FAA infusions per week at 8.1 g/m2 could be recommended as an optimal and tolerable schedule.
Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 1995
PMID:Phase I and pharmacology study of flavone acetic acid administered two or three times weekly without alkalinization. 780 80

Surveys indicate that clinicians are frequently ill equipped to treat cancer pain. Pain is often poorly assessed, and many caregivers lack sufficient knowledge to optimize treatment. Effective management requires an understanding of pain pathophysiology, the ability to identify and evaluate pain syndromes, and familiarity with proven therapeutic strategies. Opioid pharmacotherapy is the mainstay of treatment. Practical aspects of opioid therapy include selection of both drug and route, dose titration, and management of side effects. Specific strategies for the management of patients who are unable to attain an acceptable balance between pain relief and side effects include both noninvasive interventions (such as adjuvant analgesics, psychological therapies, and physiatric techniques) and invasive interventions (such as the use of intraspinal opioids, neural blockade, and neuroablative therapies). Sedation is an option at the end of life for the treatment of pain that is refractory to other interventions. These approaches can provide adequate relief to the vast majority of patients, most of whom will respond to systemic pharmacotherapy alone. Patients with refractory pain should have access to specialists in pain management or palliative medicine.
CA Cancer J Clin
PMID:The management of cancer pain. 780 1

Important differences become evident in a comparison of cancer pain between children and adults. Management of pain in children is commonly multidisciplinary, is less dependent on invasive measures and relies more on systemic therapy. Children are not little adults: their immaturity, developing cognition and dependence all influence their experience and interpretation of pain. Much progress has been made in altering practices such as under-prescribing and underdosing that have adversely affected adequate control of pain in children. The challenge for paediatric health care providers in the mid 1990s is not only to be informed of current practices in pain and symptom control in paediatric palliative care, but also to remember to establish those practices in day to day management. Even though pain and its effects in children are now better understood, it is often still not managed optimally. Good management of pain in children depends on accurate assessment. In the past 10 years, assessment of pain in children has advanced considerably. However, assessment of pain in the preverbal child is still inadequate and in need of attention. Sedation, tolerance and involuntary movements may occur as side effects of opioids in children and may cause significant problems in management of the dying child. Psychostimulants can diminish sedation to some extent, but there is little information as yet on the value of these drugs in children. Tolerance to opioids may develop quickly, leading to poor control of pain and distress for the child. Strategies to improve management of tolerance include use of regional anaesthetic techniques such as the epidural/intrathecal route for opioid administration. Involuntary movements induced by opioids are uncommon but have the potential to cause significant distress. The mechanisms underlying these side effects of opioids need to be established. Strategies are needed for the effective treatment and prevention of these side effects. Neuropathic pain can be severe, distressing and difficult to treat. Experience of its treatment in terminally ill children is limited. Effective use of tricyclic antidepressants and systemically administered local anaesthetics is still to be determined. Regional anaesthetic techniques may be of great benefit when neuropathic pain cannot be controlled with systemic therapy. Procedural pain is more common than pain related to disease in the management of paediatric cancer. Further research is needed to identify the best approach to its management. We have found nitrous oxide to be of great benefit in management of procedural pain in children. Non-pharmacological methods of treatment of pain in children, such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation or acupuncture, may also be useful and should receive continuing evaluation. There are significant and current issues in paediatric palliative care besides management of pain. There are difficulties in the provision of home nursing care for children with cancer in the terminal phase of their illness, including lack of community nursing services at night and on weekends and lack of adequate home help for parents. Attitudes of staff involved in the care of the child and family and their commitment to working as a multidisciplinary team strongly influence the quality and success of care given. Pain control and palliative medicine are evaluable by measures of quality assurance or outcome, and adoption of such evaluations should improve standards of care. Euthanasia in children is even more difficult as an ethical dilemma than in adults. Optimum symptom control with current techniques should almost always obviate its consideration. We are opposed to euthanasia. Psychosocial and cultural issues all influence the family's experience of palliative care. Further research is necessary in all of these areas.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
Cancer Surv 1994
PMID:Pain and symptom control in paediatric palliative care. 856 95

We report an open, uncontrolled study to evaluate the effectiveness of regular oral morphine as symptomatic treatment of dyspnoea in patients with advanced cancer receiving standard clinical care. Fifteen patients were assessed initially, and then 48 h and 7-10 days after starting treatment with oral morphine or having their dose increased. Dyspnoea, measured on a visual analogue scale (0-100), fell by a median of 14 (95% confidence interval -1.5, 25.5; Wilcoxon statistic 32.0; P = 0.06) in the nine who completed all three assessments. The three patients who died during the study did not show symptomatic benefit and, like the three who withdrew, experienced increased sedation and/or dizziness. Sedation was significantly increased at 48 h; median rise 10.5 (95% confidence interval 7, 25; Wilcoxon statistic 74; P = 0.007). Baseline respiratory function (FEV1, FVC, peak flow) was poor and the patients' respiratory rate was unaffected. Regular, titrated oral morphine may improve dyspnoea in some patients with advanced cancer but can cause significant short-term adverse effects. Oral morphine should be given to these patients as a therapeutic trial. Patients should be advised about side-effects and carefully monitored. Larger studies are needed to establish which patients are most likely to benefit and optimal dosage regimens.
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PMID:Oral morphine as symptomatic treatment of dyspnoea in patients with advanced cancer. 937 78

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.
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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

Although valid measurement of the severity of terminal delirium is of great importance in palliative care settings, existing instruments have considerable limitations. In order to quantify patients' communication capacity and agitated behaviour, two new operational observer-rating scales, the Communication Capacity Scale (Communication Scale) and Agitation Distress Scale (Agitation Scale), were validated. Thirty terminally ill cancer patients diagnosed with delirium were evaluated simultaneously by two palliative care physicians blinded to each other's coding using the Communication Scale and Agitation Scale. In addition, the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale (MDAS), Delirium Rating Scale (DRS) and Sedation Scale were rated by one researcher. Both scales achieved high internal consistency and inter-rater reliability with Cronbach's alpha coefficients of 0.91 and 0.96, and Cohen's kappa values on each item of 0.72-1.00. The principal components analysis resulted in the emergence of only one component for each scale. The total score on the Communication Scale was highly associated with that of the MDAS (rho = 0.78), Sedation Scale (rho = 0.86), and cognitive items from the MDAS and DRS (rho = 0.83). The whole score on the Agitation Scale was significantly correlated with that of the DRS (rho = 0.61) and agitation items from the MDAS and DRS (rho = 0.61). In conclusion, the Communication Scale and Agitation Scale have acceptable reliability and validity to quantify patients' communication capacity and agitation symptoms of terminally ill cancer patients with delirium.
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PMID:Communication Capacity Scale and Agitation Distress Scale to measure the severity of delirium in terminally ill cancer patients: a validation study. 1140 91

Cancer patients often report complaints of cognitive impairment and sedation. It is not well known if subjective complaints reflect objective assessments of cognitive function (CF) and sedation. We obtained self-reports of sedation and CF from 29 patients admitted to a palliative care unit and receiving morphine treatment. Sedation was reported on a verbal rating scale (VRS) and CF was reported using the EORTC QLQ-C30 health-related quality-of-life questionnaire CF scale. The self-reports were compared with objective assessments of sedation and CF by applying the Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation (OAA/S) scale and Mini Mental State Examination (MMS), respectively. The assessments were repeated for seven patients who were readmitted to the palliative care unit. The patient self-reports of memory, concentration and sedation were dichotomized into noncomplainers and complainers. The percentages of complainers were 54%, 46% and 37% for memory, concentration and sedation, respectively. Patients who complained from difficulties with concentration or memory did not score differently from noncomplainers on objective assessments of CF (MMS score), but had a significantly higher level of fatigue. Patients complaining from sedation did not score differently from noncomplainers on objective assessments of sedation (OAA/S score). We observed no significant correlations between EORTC QLQ-C30 CF scale scores and MMS scores, or between VRS sedation scores and OAA/S scores. The study demonstrates a lack of relationship between patient self-reports and objective methods for assessing sedation and cognitive failure. This finding illustrates the importance of differentiating between observations and patient self-reports. The results also question the validity of patient self-reports for measurements of cognitive failure and sedation.
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PMID:Self-reports are not related to objective assessments of cognitive function and sedation in patients with cancer pain admitted to a palliative care unit. 1246 99


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