[Treatment of chronic pain of oncologic origin with epidural or intrathecal morphine administered by continuous or...

We have treated a total of 40 patients who presented chronic pain secondary to a neoplastic condition; the patients were treated with morphine in a continuous perfusion by means of an implanted perfusion pump. The route used was the epidural route in seven patients and the intrathecal route in the remaining 33 patients. In 22 patients, the implanted pump was the continuous flow Infusaid model and in the remaining 18, the programmable flow Synchromed (Medtronic) model. The daily dose of morphine ranged from 2.4 mg to 48 mg and maximum perfusion period was 19 months. Main complications were displacement of the catheter and rejection of perfusion system. Despite its high prize, we believe that such treatment system should be considered because of the quality of life improvement of the patients.