Catheter Lifespan Research Articles

Long‐term epidural pain relief using a totally implantable access system

The majority of cancer patients at the terminal stage experience pain as a major symptom, and less than 60% of patients receive adequate pain relief. To relieve this symptom we have placed epidural catheters and attached them to an implantable access system. On this method the patients required 0.4-3.5 mg of morphine per hour with occasional boluses. Catheter life span ranged from 15 to 157 days with an average of 57 days.

Epidural Morphine Delivered by a Percutaneous Epidural Catheter for Outpatient Treatment of Cancer Pain

Twenty-three outpatients with cancer pain refractory to other methods of pain control were treated with epidural morphine (EM) delivered through a chronically placed percutaneous lumbar epidural catheter. Patients and their families were taught to administer EM at home. Mean EM doses ranged from 18 to 31 mg/day. Mean catheter lifespan was 6.3 weeks. There were no catheter-related infections or cases of respiratory depression. After 2500 patient treatment days, we have found this method to be a safe and effective method of cancer pain management in outpatients.