Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 1999
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialHow effective are supplementary doses of opioids for dyspnea in terminally ill cancer patients? A randomized continuous sequential clinical trial.
Supplementary doses of opioids are recommended to relieve dyspnea in terminally ill cancer patients. We conducted a randomized continuous sequential clinical trial to evaluate their efficacy. We recruited 33 terminally ill cancer patients from three palliative care centers, all of whom had persistent dyspnea after rest and treatment with oxygen. ⋯ Overall, both mean dyspnea intensity and respiratory frequency decreased significantly relative to baseline. Dyspnea reduction was relatively greater in patients with initially low and moderate dyspnea intensity. In terminally ill cancer patients with persistent dyspnea, 25% of the equivalent 4-hourly dose of opioid may be sufficient to reduce both dyspnea intensity and tachypnea for 4 hours.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 1999
Letter Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialDiclofenac does not modify methadone bioavailability in cancer patients.