Abstract
Although pain is the most frequent physical symptom experienced by cancer patients, it is not limited to terminal cancer, but may occur at any stage of disease. This report presents our two-year experience with the guidelines for cancer pain relief as proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). This therapeutic strategy is based on three progressive steps: non-opioid medication (I); a weakopioid with or without a non-opioid (II); and a strong opioid with or without a non-opioid. A total of 25 advanced cancer patients were treated until their death or loss from follow-up. Both the intensity and duration of pain were monitored weekly, as were the onset of medication side-effects. Information was obtained from the patient through the compilation of a self-retaining questionnaire. Our results confirm the validity of the WHO methodology for relief of cancer pain.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 104-108 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | EUR.J.PAIN |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| State | Published - 1991 |
| Externally published | Yes |
