Journal of pain and symptom management
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2017
ReviewTopical Treatment of Peripheral Neuropathic Pain: Applying the Evidence.
Patients with peripheral neuropathic pain (NP) may only achieve partial pain relief with currently recommended first-line oral treatments, which are also associated with systemic adverse events. Topical treatments are currently considered second- or third-line options, but a recent pharmacologic treatment algorithm has called for broader first-line use of these agents. This has highlighted a need to communicate the benefits associated with topical agents, in particular around the efficacy, targeted local action, and limited systemic availability resulting in minimal systemic adverse events and drug-drug interactions. ⋯ First-line use of topical agents may be of particular benefit in patients where the safety and tolerability of oral therapy is a concern.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2017
ReviewThe Edmonton Symptom Assessment System 25 Years Later: Past, Present and Future Developments.
Routine symptom assessment represents the cornerstone of symptom management. Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) is one of the first quantitative symptom assessment batteries that allows for simple and rapid documentation of multiple patient-reported symptoms at the same time. ⋯ ESAS has evolved over the past 25 years to become an important symptom assessment instrument in both clinical practice and research. Future efforts are needed to standardize this tool and explore its full potential to support symptom management.