Abstract
Cancer related pain is one of the most frequent and relevant symptoms in patients with malignant tumors, causing a huge impact in their quality of life. According to the Chilean Public Health System Technical Report of the Cancer Pain Control and Palliative Care Program 2013-2014, 90% of cancer patients admitted to the Program experienced pain, being moderate or intense in 34%. International and local standards recommend the use of strong opioids (morphine, methadone, or fentanyl) associated with adjuvants such as paracetamol as an initial strategy for pain management. This recommendation assumes that the use of combined analgesics could allow the use of lower opioid doses to obtain similar analgesic effect, decreasing the occurrence of opioid side effects. However, this technical report also describes that there is uncertainty about the impact of paracetamol as an adjuvant in patients with cancer pain who are already receiving strong opioids. This review aims to describe the current state of the art regarding the role of paracetamol as a coadjuvant in cancer pain patients.
Highlights
Durante las últimas décadas, la incidencia del cáncer ha aumentado en todo el mundo[1] y el dolor constituye una de sus complicaciones más frecuentes[2]
Dada la frecuencia e impacto del problema en esta población, ha sido necesario elaborar estrategias que permitan garantizar un alivio efectivo de este síntoma[1,7]
Wiffen PJ, Derry S, Moore RA, McNicol ED, Bell RF, Carr DB, et al Oral paracetamol (acetaminophen) for cancer pain
Summary
Cancer related pain is one of the most frequent and relevant symptoms in patients with malignant tumors, causing a huge impact in their quality of life. International and local standards recommend the use of strong opioids (morphine, methadone, or fentanyl) associated with adjuvants such as paracetamol as an initial strategy for pain management. This recommendation assumes that the use of combined analgesics could allow the use of lower opioid doses to obtain similar analgesic effect, decreasing the occurrence of opioid side effects. This technical report describes that there is uncertainty about the impact of paracetamol as an adjuvant in patients with cancer pain who are already receiving strong opioids.
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