Breakthrough pain: assessment and management in cancer patients

Nurse-based monitoring and management of breakthrough pain in an acute pain relief and palliative care unit

OBJECTIVES

To assess the nurses' performance in assessing, treating, and documenting breakthrough pain (BTP) in a palliative care unit where traditionally there is continuous training.

METHODS

The study was performed in an acute palliative care unit. Once a week, a research nurse examined the documentation regarding all the episodes of BTP registered in a specific pain chart, designed by the institutional nurse board, as part of the routine nurse activity.

RESULTS

The charts of 50 consecutive eligible patients (32 M/18 F), were analysed. The mean number of episodes/patient was 3.3 (SD 1.61; range 1-7). 166 episodes occurred. The main BTP pain intensity was 7.06 (SD 0.82). In 7 episodes, pain intensity was not evaluated at T0. The pain intensity after 15 minutes after BTP medication was 3.01 (SD1.19). In 28 episodes, pain intensity was not evaluated at T15. The change in pain intensity was highly significant (P < 0.0005). BTP episodes were distributed normally through different day intervals. No relevant adverse event attributable to BTP medication was reported in the nurse diary.

CONCLUSION

Training in a research environment allows a good nurse capability in evaluating and treating BTP, and above all, providing documentation for each BTP episode. The theoretical work and recommendations around BTP need to be translated into day-to-day clinical practice.

Breakthrough pain in patients with controlled or uncontrolled basal pain: an observational study

Recently, there has been debate regarding the definition of ‘breakthrough pain’ and the patients to whom the term applies, with suggestions made to broaden the definition to include both patients with uncontrolled and controlled baseline pain, rather than only patients with controlled pain. To contribute to this discussion, the authors assessed the occurrence and characteristics of breakthrough pain among patients with controlled and uncontrolled baseline pain.

BACKGROUND:

Breakthrough pain (BTP) is traditionally defined as a pain exacerbation in patients with chronic controlled pain. However, this definition has recently been challenged.

OBJECTIVES:

To evaluate the prevalence of unsatisfactory control in patients with chronic cancer pain, and investigate the frequency and intensity of BTP episodes.

METHODS:

A total of 665 patients with chronic cancer pain attending 21 pain therapy units in Italy were evaluated for baseline pain intensity and number of BTP episodes over a 30-day period. All patients started, continued or modified treatment for BTP at enrollment, according to medical judgment.

RESULTS:

The number of BTP events was higher in patients with uncontrolled baseline pain, although the intensity and duration of episodes were similar. In patients with uncontrolled baseline pain, the number of events decreased with time and reached values comparable with those reported in patients with controlled pain. Both the intensity of the pain and the duration of the BTP events exhibited similar values in the two groups at all time points, following increased monitoring and the prescription of analgesic medication.

CONCLUSION:

Patients with uncontrolled baseline pain experienced BTP flares with higher frequency, but similar intensity and duration with respect to patients with controlled pain at baseline. Notably, a close follow-up and adequate management of the BTP episodes led to an improvement of BTP in the observed patients.

Pharmacokinetics and tolerability of different doses of fentanyl following sublingual administration of a rapidly dissolving tablet to cancer patients: a new approach to treatment of incident pain

AIMS

It is estimated that two-thirds of cancer patients will at some point during their illness experience breakthrough pain. In this study, the pharmacokinetics of a novel sublingual dosage form of fentanyl developed for breakthrough pain was evaluated.

METHODS

Eleven Caucasian patients (seven male and 4 female, aged 34-75 years, median 60 years) with metastatic malignant disease were recruited initially, but three patients withdrew. Prior to the study all patients were on continuous nonfentanyl opiate medication. The study was a double-blind, cross-over trial, consisting of three 1-day treatment periods. A new rapidly dissolving preparation of fentanyl, was administered sublingually in single doses of 100, 200 and 400 microg, respectively, on three separate occasions. Plasma fentanyl concentrations were determined using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by noncompartment analysis. Tolerability and the occurrence of adverse events were monitored throughout the study by patient questionnaire.

RESULTS

The data from nine subjects who completed at least two periods were used in the analysis of variance. There were no significant differences between doses (100, 200 and 400 microg) for dose adjusted AUC (F = 0.42, P = 0.6660), dose adjusted C(max) (F = 0.08, P = 0.9206) and Tmax (F = 0.94, P = 0.4107). Thus, these parameters showed dose proportionality. The differences (400-100microg) in dose adjusted AUC from the three-period crossover analysis was -0.016 min.ng/ml (t = 0.71, P = 0.8718). Interindividual variability in systemic exposure to fentanyl was fairly small (25-40%), which may be related to a good in vivo biopharmaceutical performance of the sublingual tablet, and a relatively small fraction of the dose being swallowed. The first detectable plasma concentration of fentanyl was observed between 8 and 11 min after administration. t(max) increased from 39.7 +/- 17.4 to 48.7 +/- 26.3 and 56.7 +/- 24.6 min for the 100, 200 and 400 microg doses, respectively. Adverse events were few and did not increase with increasing dose.

CONCLUSION

With this rapidly dissolving fentanyl formulation, the first detectable plasma concentration of fentanyl was observed at 8-11 min after administration. The pharmacokinetics of the drug showed dose proportionately. This formulation of fentanyl seemed to be well tolerated by the patients.