The management of metastatic bone pain in a developing country: the role of radiotherapy as an adjunct to weak opioids.
Bone pain secondary to metastatic cancer is the commonest intractable pain and is a major concern in most oncology units the world over. Cancer pain management is multidisciplinary in approach, so there is no universal or singular modality of treatment. In a developing country like Nigeria, only external radiotherapy and adjuvant weak opioids are readily available, so it is of interest to review the response of these patients to this management option. This is a retrospective review of 92 patients aged 16-80 years with radiologically confirmed metastatic bone disease associated with pain who received external radiotherapy and weak analgesics. The results showed that 23 (25%) patients had a complete response and 67 (73%) had a partial response within four weeks of treatment. Total response was over 90%, which suggests external radiotherapy has an effective palliative role. The study also demonstrated the pattern of bony involvement among the common cancers seen in our environment. The availability of strong opioids (e.g. morphine and pethidine) will obviously consolidate the gains achieved with external radiotherapy in the management of metastatic bone pain in our environment.
Adenipekun
A
A
Department of Radiology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Alonge
T O
TO
Campbell
O B
OB
Oyesegun
A R
AR
Elumelu
T N
TN
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy* / Q000556:secondary; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid