Review of cancer pain management in patients receiving maintenance methadone therapy.
Rowley, Dominic McLean, Sarah O'Gorman, Aisling Ryan, Karen McQuillan, Regina
Rowley, Dominic
McLean, Sarah
O'Gorman, Aisling
Ryan, Karen
McQuillan, Regina
Advisors
Editors
Other Contributors
Date
2011-05
Date Submitted
Keywords
Other Subjects
Subject Mesh
Adult
Analgesics, Opioid
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Drug Therapy, Combination
Female
Humans
Injections, Subcutaneous
Male
Methadone
Middle Aged
Morphine Dependence
Neoplasms
Opiate Substitution Treatment
Pain
Retrospective Studies
Analgesics, Opioid
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Drug Therapy, Combination
Female
Humans
Injections, Subcutaneous
Male
Methadone
Middle Aged
Morphine Dependence
Neoplasms
Opiate Substitution Treatment
Pain
Retrospective Studies
Planned Date
Start Date
Collaborators
Principal Investigators
Alternative Titles
Publisher
Abstract
Methadone is commonly used in the treatment of heroin addiction. Patients with a history of opioid misuse or on methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) with cancer often have difficult to manage pain. We studied 12 patients referred to the palliative care service with cancer pain who were on MMT. All had difficult to control pain, and a third required 5 or more analgesic agents. Two patients had documented ''drug-seeking'' behavior. Methadone was used subcutaneously as an analgesic agent in 1 patient. We explore why patients on MMT have difficult to manage pain, the optimal management of their pain, and the increasing role of methadone as an analgesic agent in cancer pain.
Language
en
ISSN
1938-2715
eISSN
ISBN
DOI
10.1177/1049909110380897
PMID
20826493