Background & Aims

Pain is one of the dominant symptoms in cancer patients and the reason for accessing health services. Home palliative care can represent a feasible alternative to hospital admission for patients with cancer pain. This paper aims to highlight the experience of the single home palliative care provider in Iasi County, Romania in cancer pain management.

Methods

Retrospective study was conducted between January 2022 – December 2023 on 83 patients, aged between 41 and 91 years, diagnosed with advanced cancer. Data on the primary tumor, disease stage, presence of metastases, pain score, and its characteristics were included.

Results

83 patients with different neoplasms in advanced stages were included, 74 of them being metastatic (89%). The most common tumors where the pain was present were in bronchopulmonary, pancreatic, stomach, prostate, ovarian and breast cancers. At the initial assessment 58 patients (70%) described the pain intensity as severe, 17 (20%) as moderate and only 8 (9%) as mild pain. 72 patients (86%) benefited of major opioids administration (Morphine, Fentanyl, Oxycodone), and for 51 patients co-analgesics were administered. Good pain control was achieved in 79 (95%) patients within a maximum of 42 hours.

Conclusions

Although in Romania palliative care at home is still not sufficiently well developed, it can represent a viable solution for controlling the pain of cancer patients at their home, and for improving their quality of life.

References

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Presenting Author

Mihaela Poroch

Poster Authors

Mihaela Poorch

Lead Author

E-mail

Gema Bacoanu

Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi

Lead Author

E-mail

Irina Claudia Anton

Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi

Lead Author

E-mail

Eliza Maria Froicu

Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi

Lead Author

E-mail

Liliana Nicoleta Crucianu

Paliativ Expert SRL

Lead Author

E-mail

Vladimir Poroch

Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy Iasi

Lead Author

E-mail

Topics

  • Specific Pain Conditions/Pain in Specific Populations: Cancer Pain & Palliative Care