Consensus statement on chronic pain treatment in cancer survivors.

In September 2023, the Japan Society of Pain Clinicians (JSPC) issued this consensus statement on chronic pain treatment in cancer survivors. With recent advances in the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer, its prognosis has improved, so prolonged pain in cancer survivors is considered to represent chronic pain and should be addressed. In this statement, we emphasize that not all cancer survivor pain is cancer pain.

Effects of palliative intrathecal analgesia on patients with refractory cancer bone pain.

This study examined the effects of intrathecal analgesia (ITA) using an extracorporeal pump with a subcutaneous port system in cancer patients with bone metastasis. Among the patients who died of cancer with bone metastasis at the palliative care unit of our institution, 11 who received ITA were selected. Changes in pain, opioid doses, the palliative prognostic index (PPI), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Scale　after ITA were assessed.

Efficacy and safety of intravenous fosphenytoin for patients with acute herpes zoster-associated pain: A placebo-controlled randomized trial.

Acute zoster-associated pain develops in most patients with herpes zoster. Nonopioid analgesics are usually used to treat acute zoster-associated pain but are frequently ineffective. We administered intravenous fosphenytoin, the prodrug of phenytoin, to patients with acute zoster-associated pain to examine its analgesic efficacy and safety.

Availability of and factors related to interventional procedures for refractory pain in patients with cancer: a nationwide survey.

Background: Cancer pain may be refractory to standard pharmacological treatment. Interventional procedures are important for quality of analgesia. The aim of the present study was to clarify the availability of four interventional procedures (celiac plexus neurolysis/splanchnic nerve neurolysis, phenol saddle block, epidural analgesia, and intrathecal analgesia), the number of procedures performed by specialists, and their associated factors.

Post-traumatic growth of family members of deceased cancer patients and related factors in Japan: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: This study examines the post-traumatic growth (PTG) of bereaved families who care for cancer patients and related factors in Japan.

Methods: Participants included 1298 members of bereaved families of cancer patients (aged 20 or older). An anonymous self-administered questionnaire on PTG, coping, and social support was mailed to 496 bereaved families who provided written informed consent.

Palliative care physicians' recognition of patients after immune checkpoint inhibitors and immune-related adverse events.

Purpose: This study investigated the experience of palliative care physicians (PCPs) and their knowledge and recognition of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in clinical practice as well as the need to provide palliative care services for patients after ICI treatments.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey with self-administered questionnaires was conducted between February and April 2020. A total of 759 questionnaires were sent to PCPs in Japan.

Significance of Psychological Stress Response and Health-related Quality of Life in Spouses of Cancer Patients When Given Bad News.

Objective: This study illuminates the degree of psychological stress response experienced by spouses of cancer patients when given bad news at three different times (notification of the name of the disease, notification of recurrence, and notification of terminality) as well as the factors that influence the response and the health status of the spouse as measured by health-related quality of life (QOL).

Methods: A total of 203 individuals (57 men and 146 women) who had received the three types of news were surveyed using a self-report questionnaire on psychological stress response, marital satisfaction, and health-related QOL scales.

Results: The degree of the psychological stress response was the highest for notification of terminality, followed by notification of the name of the disease, and notification of recurrence.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of fentanyl buccal tablets for breakthrough pain: efficacy and safety in Japanese cancer patients.

Context: Rapid-onset opioids for treating breakthrough pain (BTP) in patients with cancer are needed in the Japanese care setting.

Objectives: To examine the efficacy and safety of fentanyl buccal tablets (FBTs) for treating BTP in Japanese cancer patients.

Methods: This was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study.

High concentrations of dexmedetomidine inhibit compound action potentials in frog sciatic nerves without alpha(2) adrenoceptor activation.

Background And Purpose: Dexmedetomidine, an alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonist, exhibits anti-nociceptive actions at the spinal cord and enhances the effect of local anaesthetics in the peripheral nervous system. Although the latter action may be attributed in part to inhibition of nerve conduction produced by dexmedetomidine, this has not been fully examined yet.

Experimental Approach: We examined the effects of various adrenoceptor agonists including dexmedetomidine, and tetracaine, a local anaesthetic, on compound action potentials (CAPs) recorded from the frog sciatic nerve, using the air-gap method.

Iodoform intoxication; a case report of prolonged consciousness disturbance in a patient with a high plasma iodine level.

This report describes a case in which a consciousness disturbance was associated with a high plasma iodine level and which improved after the removal of iodoform gauze that had been applied to infected wounds. A 71-year-old male with poorly controlled diabetes underwent a laminectomy for an epidural abscess. On the 6th and 8th postoperative days, he underwent debridement for fasciitis in the both arms and iodoform gauze was applied to the wounds (both arms and lumbar region) at the end of the first debridement and then changed every day.