Daily subcutaneous parecoxib injection for cancer pain: an open label pilot study.

Background: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory analgesics (NSAIDs) are useful in cancer pain but the specific use of subcutaneous parecoxib has not been previously reported.

Objective: This pilot study aimed to establish the efficacy and side effect profile of short-term sequential single daily dose subcutaneous parecoxib sodium in patients with severe cancer bone pain.

Methods: Nineteen hospitalized patients with advanced cancer and uncontrolled malignant bone pain (9 males, 10 females) received 24 courses of one, two, or three days sequential therapy with 'off-label' daily subcutaneous parecoxib.

Sedation and analgesia-prescribing patterns in terminally ill patients at the end of life.

The extensive use of sedative and analgesic medication at the end of life is often controversial due to the perception that death may be hastened as a result of progressive drug escalation. Physician attitudes toward prescribing medication in this setting vary, resulting in widely differing prescribing patterns for patients with advanced cancer. This investigation attempted to identify overall prescribing patterns and variation in the use of sedation and analgesia in an inpatient hospice setting at the end of life.