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Effects of palliative intrathecal analgesia on patients with refractory cancer bone pain

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Abstract

This study examined the effects of intrathecal analgesia (ITA) using an extracorporeal pump with a subcutaneous port system in cancer patients with bone metastasis. Among the patients who died of cancer with bone metastasis at the palliative care unit of our institution, 11 who received ITA were selected. Changes in pain, opioid doses, the palliative prognostic index (PPI), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Scale after ITA were assessed. Pain, opioid doses, and PPI decreased after ITA (P = 0.002, 0.002, and 0.017). ITA for cancer patients with increased PPI due to refractory cancer bone pain decreased pain, opioid doses, and PPI.

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Data availability

Raw data were generated at Saga-ken Medical Center Koseikan. Derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author IH on request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the patients and their families who participated in this study, the clinicians from the palliative care unit at Saga-ken Medical Center Koseikan, the anesthesiologists at Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center, and Medical English Service (www.med-english.com) for English language editing.

Funding

The authors have no sources of funding to declare for this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Study concept and design: IH and ES; data collection: IH; manuscript preparation: IH; manuscript editing, review and approval: all authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Isao Haraga.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

This study was received from the Saga-ken Medical Center Koseikan Institutional Research Ethics Board in Saga, Japan.

Prior presentation Part of this article was presented at the 25th Congress of the Japanese Society for Palliative Medicine (August 9–10, 2020, online, Japan).

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Haraga, I., Kosugi, T., Sadashima, E. et al. Effects of palliative intrathecal analgesia on patients with refractory cancer bone pain. J Anesth (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00540-024-03338-0

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