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Updated: Jun 28, 2025

A Quantitative Sensory Testing Paradigm to Obtain Measures of Pain Processing in Patients Undergoing Breast Cancer Surgery
Published on: January 18, 2018
[Pharmacological pain management in cancer patients]
Anke Mütherig1,2, Gesine Scheffler3, Ulrich S Schuler4,5
1Palliativ-Zentrum, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Fetscherstr. 74, 01307, Dresden, Deutschland.
Abstract:
Pharmacological pain therapy in cancer patients is based on guideline recommendations, which, however, do not fully coincide in all aspects due to varying weighting of evidence. The present article discusses current issues including the decreasing significance of the World Health Organization (WHO) analgesic ladder, with its distinction between step 2 and 3 being increasingly questioned. Risks of nonopioid analgesics such as paracetamol and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), particularly in older populations, are discussed. Paracetamol may potentially reduce the effectiveness of immunotherapies. Aspects of administering analgesics via a feeding tube are considered. Recommendations for the treatment of episodic pain, transitioning between different opioids, and some relevant interactions are also discussed.
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