[After care as a supportive measure in palliative surgery--pain therapy]

Nearly 50% of all patients with cancer will suffer from chronic pain. Aside from specific anticancer treatment these patients need an adequate analgetic drug therapy. By using the WHO analgesic ladder correctly more than 85% of cancer pain can be treated effectively. Nevertheless, there are several reasons for an unsatisfactory management of cancer pain and in practice we often make simple but relevant mistakes in dealing with analgetic drugs, especially with opioids. Non-analgetic treatment of cancer pain e.g. neurolytic or neurosurgical blocks are relatively unknown. An adequate and satisfactory care for patients with cancer pain is based on an individual comprehensive approach, including analgetic treatment, non-analgetic techniques and last but not least the consideration of psychological factors that influence and determine the severity of pain.