Continuous subcutaneous infusion of lidocaine for persistent hiccup in advanced cancer

Persistent hiccup can cause anorexia, weight loss, disabling sleep deprivation, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, relief of persistent hiccup is important for advanced cancer patients and their family. Most reports on this condition are case series reports advocating the use of baclofen, haloperid...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palliative medicine 2013-03, Vol.27 (3), p.284-285
Main Authors: Kaneishi, Keisuke, Kawabata, Masahiro
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged, 80 and over
Anesthetics, Local - administration & dosage
Anorexia
Anxiety-Depression
Delirium
Drug dosages
Gabapentin
Gastric cancer
Hiccup - drug therapy
Hiccup - etiology
Hospitals
Humans
Infusions, Subcutaneous
Lidocaine - administration & dosage
Male
Medicine
Nervous system
Palliative care
Patients
Side effects
Sleep deprivation
Sodium
Stomach Neoplasms - complications
Terminally ill people
Treatment Outcome
Tumors
Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Blockers - administration & dosage
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Summary:Persistent hiccup can cause anorexia, weight loss, disabling sleep deprivation, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, relief of persistent hiccup is important for advanced cancer patients and their family. Most reports on this condition are case series reports advocating the use of baclofen, haloperidol, gabapentin, and midazolam. However, these medications are occasionally ineffective or accompanied by intolerable side effects. The sodium channel blocker lidocaine has been shown to be effective in treating a variety of disorders thought to involve neuropathic mechanisms. Intravenous administration of lidocaine is common but efficacy has also been reported for subcutaneous infusion. In advanced cancer patients, subcutaneous infusion is easy, advantageous, and accompanied by less discomfort. We report a case of severe and sustained hiccup caused by gastric cancer that was successfully treated with a continuous subcutaneous infusion of lidocaine (480 mg (24 ml)/day) without severe side effects.
ISSN:0269-2163
1477-030X
DOI:10.1177/0269216312448508