Hydromorphone for dyspnoea in terminally ill patients with cancer: case series.

Objective: Opioids can mitigate dyspnoea, but the efficacy of hydromorphone use for dyspnoea in patients with cancer is not well known.

Methods: Patients with cancers with more than mild dyspnoea treated with subcutaneous injection of hydromorphone between March 2020 and February 2022 at Kitano Hospital (Osaka, Japan) were reviewed retrospectively. Only patients who could self-report their symptoms ≥3 days after the start of hydromorphone therapy were included.

Fentanyl titration for cancer pain: continuous subcutaneous injection and a once-daily transdermal patch - case series.

Objectives: Continuous subcutaneous injection (CSCI) followed by a once-daily transdermal patch is a reasonable strategy for rapid titration of fentanyl in patients with cancer pain who are unable to take oral medication or have renal impairment, but the effectiveness and safety have not been demonstrated.

Methods: Medical records of patients with moderate to severe cancer pain who underwent titration of fentanyl by CSCI between October 2019 and October 2021 at Kitano Hospital, Osaka, Japan, were retrospectively reviewed. The dose of fentanyl was increased to a maximum of 0.

[Predicting the Prognosis of Terminal Cancer Patients with Chemotherapy].

To determine the chemotherapy indication of terminal cancer patients, predicting the prognosis is meaningful. We intended to establish a suitable prognosis prediction index for these patients. From June 2015 to January 2016, we examined the prognosis in 7 patients who were administered chemotherapy drugs within 4 weeks before or after the prognosis calculation.

Colonoscopic classification of internal hemorrhoids: usefulness in endoscopic band ligation.

Background: Bleeding is one of the main symptoms of internal hemorrhoids. However, the conventional Goligher's classification of internal hemorrhoids does not consider the severity of bleeding. We intended to establish a useful method for evaluating internal hemorrhoids using a colonoscope that reflected the severity of the symptoms.

Retroflexed endoscopic multiple band ligation of symptomatic internal hemorrhoids.

Background: Elastic band ligation is a well-established nonoperative method for treatment of internal hemorrhoids that give rise to symptoms. This study assessed the efficacy and safety of retroflexed endoscopic multiple band ligation, a procedure that involves extensive ligation of internal hemorrhoids, and the immediately proximal normal rectal mucosa, by means of a retroflexed endoscope.

Methods: Eighty-two patients with symptoms caused by internal hemorrhoids (15, stage I; 19, stage II; 47, stage III; 1, stage IV) were treated by retroflexed endoscopic multiple band ligation.

Cyclooxygenase-2 expression and angiogenesis in gastric hyperplastic polyp--association with polyp size.

Background: Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is the rate-limiting enzyme in prostaglandin synthesis, and plays an important role in tumor enlargement. COX-2 is expressed in human gastric and colorectal tumors, and the expression increases in a tumor size-dependent manner. In the present study, we attempted to examine the COX-2 expression pattern in gastric hyperplastic polyp, a non-tumorous lesion.