Analysis and treatment of different types of neuropathic cancer pain

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Petra Stute - , University of Münster (Author)
  • Jens Soukup - , Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Author)
  • Matthias Menzel - , Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Author)
  • Rainer Sabatowski - , University of Cologne (Author)
  • Stefan Grond - , Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (Author)

Abstract

Neuropathic pain is a major problem in the treatment of cancer pain. We performed a retrospective analysis of 213 cancer patients with neuropathic pain treated by a pain service following the World Health Organization guidelines for relief of cancer pain. Of these, 79% presented with nerve compression pain, 16% with nerve injury pain, and 5% with sympathetically-maintained pain. Whereas nerve compression and nerve injury pain were caused most frequently by cancer growth, sympathetically-maintained pain was caused most frequently by cancer treatment. There were no significant differences in the use of analgesics, the mean pain intensity, or the efficacy of analgesic treatment among the three groups. Nerve injury pain and sympathetically-maintained pain were treated more frequently with adjuvant analgesics, especially antidepressants and anticonvulsants. The variety of different neuropathic pain syndromes should be separated in future studies of the efficacy of different treatment approaches.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1123-1131
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of pain and symptom management
Volume26
Issue number6
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2003
Peer-reviewedYes
Externally publishedYes

External IDs

PubMed 14654264

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

Keywords

  • Deafferentation pain, Nerve compression, Nerve injury, Sympathically- maintained pain