암성 통증 관리 지침에 따른 완화병동의 마약성 진통제 사용 적절성 평가

Abstract

Pain that is an important influence on the quality of life; pain and its treatment is very important as it the one of most common symptoms in patients with cancer. In this study, we evaluated of the adequacy of pain control using opioid analgesics in palliative ward patients using cancer pain management guidelines. On a retrospective basis, we examined medication, information, and pain management in patients that had cancer from January 2010 to June 2010; all patients were treated in the palliative ward, at Seoul National University Hospital. The pain was assessed with Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) and moderate-to-severe pain was defied as more than NRS level 4. In this review, 118 cancer patients experienced a total 2,417 events that were moderate-tosevere in pain, with a mean level NRS of 5.9. ‘Patients’mean age was 56.8 years; 56% of patients were men and, 44% of patients were women. The primary cancer diagnoses included lung, stomach, breast, and colorectal. The compatibility of use with opioid analgesics and the capacity was only 45% of the rate, since the rate of compatibility about reevaluation of pain is 13%, and the compliance rates of recommendation of cancer pain management guidelines remarkably appeared to be low, we also confirmed lack of pain relief. These results demonstrate the alarming degree of undertreatment of pain in experienced by patients with cancer in Korea, and indicates the need to improve the management of cancerrelated pain. It is important to comply with cancer pain management guidelines towards the relief of cancer pain by doctors and to choose more effective opioid analgesics for each patient by a pharmacist.