The WHO analgesic ladder for cancer pain control, twenty years of use. How much pain relief does one get from using it?

Pain is a major problem in the treatment of patients with cancer. This article reviews studies concerning evaluation of patients with cancer pain treated according to The World Health Organization (WHO) analgesic ladder. Systematic search of PUBMED, MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, BDENF, and OVID and a han...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Supportive care in cancer 2006-11, Vol.14 (11), p.1086-1093
Main Authors: Azevedo São Leão Ferreira, Karine, Kimura, Miako, Jacobsen Teixeira, Manoel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analgesics - standards
Analgesics - therapeutic use
Cancer
Humans
Neoplasms - complications
Pain - drug therapy
Pain - etiology
Pain management
Pain Measurement
Prospective Studies
Research Design
Retrospective Studies
Treatment Outcome
World Health Organization
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Pain is a major problem in the treatment of patients with cancer. This article reviews studies concerning evaluation of patients with cancer pain treated according to The World Health Organization (WHO) analgesic ladder. Systematic search of PUBMED, MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, BDENF, and OVID and a hand search of reference lists and textbooks from 1982 to 2004 were performed. Analgesia was considered adequate in 45 to 100% of patients analyzed in the studies. However, the evidence that they provide is insufficient to grant the effectiveness of the WHO guidelines because a controlled clinical trial of this intervention has never been published.
ISSN:0941-4355
1433-7339
DOI:10.1007/s00520-006-0086-x