Abstract
BackgroundWith the recent advancement in medicine there has been a great emphasis on the management of chronic pain which remains as one of the major contributing factors for functional limitation in patients as well as a financial burden on healthcare. Newer treatment modalities are aimed at terminating the vicious pain cycles and in this regard peripheral nerve blocks have proven to be very effective.ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for both cancer and non-cancer patients by objective assessment of the patients before and after the procedure.Materials and methodsThe study included 252 patients who underwent nerve block procedures in Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital from December 2016 to December 2018. The patients were evaluated using numerical rating scale (NRS) for pain, reduction in analgesic doses and patient satisfaction after one and four weeks post procedure. The data was analyzed using mean values and calculating percentages.ResultsIn cancer group, 168 patients were included; mean age 50.49 ± 15.39 with 46.43% females and 53.57% males, the average pain score was 2.62 ± 1.87 post procedure compared with 6.30 ± 1.87 post procedure. 48.21% of the patients reported a reduction in analgesia while 51.79% of the patients kept on using the same analgesics doses. 74.40% of the patients were satisfied and 25.60% patients remained unsatisfied after one week whereas 66.07% were satisfied, 23.81% were not satisfied and 10.12% loss to follow up after four weeks. In non-cancer group 84 patients were included; mean age 56.49 ± 15.79 with 41.67% females and 58.33% males, the average pain score before intervention was 5.99 ± 1.21 and after intervention it was 2.43 ± 1.62. In 73.81% non-cancer patients the analgesics doses were reduced and 70.24% patients were satisfied while 29.76% were unsatisfied after one week. After four weeks 55.95% were satisfied, 22.62% were not satisfied and 21.43% loss to follow up.ConclusionThe study showed decrease in pain scores in both group of patients and the importance of nerve blocks as an effective method for chronic pain management. The reduction in the use of other analgesics was also commendable in both the groups.
Highlights
With the recent advancement in medicine there has been a great emphasis on the management of chronic pain which remains as one of the major contributing factors for functional limitation in patients and poor quality of life as well as a financial burden on healthcare
The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for both cancer and non-cancer patients by objective assessment of the patients before and after the procedure
168 patients were included; mean age 50.49 ± 15.39 with 46.43% females and 53.57% males, the average pain score was 2.62 ± 1.87 post procedure compared with 6.30 ± 1.87 post procedure. 48.21% of the patients reported a reduction in analgesia while 51.79% of the patients kept on using the same analgesics doses. 74.40% of the patients were satisfied and 25.60% patients remained unsatisfied after one week whereas 66.07% were satisfied, 23.81% were not satisfied and 10.12% loss to follow up after four weeks
Summary
With the recent advancement in medicine there has been a great emphasis on the management of chronic pain which remains as one of the major contributing factors for functional limitation in patients and poor quality of life as well as a financial burden on healthcare. With better treatment options more patients are surviving with cancer and one of the fearsome aspects of this disease is chronic pain which even at present is very challenging to manage. The use of opioids has greatly helped in reducing the pain associated with the disease but still the prevalence of chronic pain remains high. With the recent advancement in medicine there has been a great emphasis on the management of chronic pain which remains as one of the major contributing factors for functional limitation in patients as well as a financial burden on healthcare. Newer treatment modalities are aimed at terminating the vicious pain cycles and in this regard peripheral nerve blocks have proven to be very effective
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