Continuous epidural methadone treatment for cancer pain.
Seventy cancer patients suffering from visceral or somatic pain received continuous epidural methadone (EM) analgesia. Initially, 4 mg of 0.1% methadone was given three times daily. If this dose proved ineffective, it was gradually increased to 8 mg four times daily. With this regimen good pain control was obtained in 56 patients (80%). Patients continued the EM therapy for periods up to 140 days, with an average duration of 27 days. Morphine was substituted for methadone in 14 patients (20%). Four of these patients responded well and continued treatment for an average of 18 days. No serious side effects have been observed with EM. With a proper selection of patients and following strict therapy guidelines, epidural methadone is efficacious in treating cancer pain.
Shir
Y
Y
Department of Anesthesiology, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.
Shapira
S S
SS
Shenkman
Z
Z
Kaufman
B
B
Magora
F
F
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015360:Analgesia, Epidural; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010148:Intractable Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology
D008691:Methadone