[The subcutaneous administration of a NSAID in palliative care]

Palliate care is concerned with oncologic patients and its aim is to reduce their suffering, i.e. in the first place to eliminate or reduce pain. As a rule, the WHO prescriptions are followed, administering progressively nonsteroid analgesic agents (NSAIDs), weak opioids, strong opioids. The most convenient channels of administration are oral and subcutaneous. So far, NSAIDs could not be given subcutaneously due to the local side effects (pain and irritation at the point of injection) they cause. On the basis of experience with tenoxicam in our Department, subcutaneous administration is suggested. Our study involved 27 subjects with treatment-refractory tumors, in order to assess topical tolerability. In all cases, the drug was administered via a subcutaneous permanent teflon needle-catheter. Tenoxicam was found to have better gastric tolerability compared to other NSAIDs. It can be concluded that for the palliative treatment of cancer patients tenoxicam ampoules are an additional drug that can be administered subcutaneously.