[Aspects of systemic analgesia in patients with incurable oral cancer]

When pain occurs in the final stage of a tumor disease, the administration of analgetic drugs in effective dosages may often be the most important treatment measure. In the years 1982 to 1987 a total of 83 oral cancer patients from our clinic died, 16 of them during their last stay in hospital. These histories have been evaluated in retrospective. Central and peripheral analgesics and neuroleptics had been applied. 25% of the patients required no analgetic drugs. Prediction of the analgesic dosage required was impossible, because of the variables tumor expansion, localization, lymph node involvement and the treatment provided. Individual analgesia using low-dose oral morphine on a step by step scheme remains indispensable.