Total freedom from cancer pain at a tertiary cancer centre in India –A retrospective analysis of 3238 patients.

Abstract

Effective pain control is essential for the management of patients with cancer. About 70-80% of patients with cancer present in an advanced stage of disease. Patients with advanced cancer frequently experience intractable pain with diverse symptoms that can make daily living impossible and affect the quality of life.

This paper reports the management of 3238 patients with cancer pain over a period of five years. Nearly 89.6% patients had good pain relief, with VAS less than 3. These promising results were achieved by careful patient assessment, close liaison with clinicians from other specialties and by using a variety of analgesic regimen including oral analgesics, anaesthetic procedures, psychological interventions and supportive care. However, the main stay of treatment was oral analgesics, according to the principles of WHO analgesic ladder.