[Analgesics and palliative care]

Pain is an important and often under-treated symptom of life-threatening illness. A complete evaluation of pain facilitate optimal treatment. Correct use of analgesic medication, following the guidelines of the W.H.O. step ladder, with attention to detail, with addition of adjuvant analgesics, should control the pain in most of the cases. The use of weak and strong opioid analgesics, their tolerance, the breakthrough doses, principle of opioid rotation and the place of adjuvant drugs are discussed. Proper pain management in end-of-life is never easy and require to become more familiar with the use of these analgesics and to surround oneself with a multidisciplinary team.