4.3. Implications for clinical practice
Analgesic approaches to cancer pain management are based on
the World Health Organisation’s analgesic ladder (WHO) for the
last 20 years [39]. In the best hands, this can result in around
75% of patients achieving good pain control [5]. However, the reM.I.
Bennett et al. / PAIN 143 (2009) 192–199 197
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cent European Pain In Cancer (EPIC) survey led by the European
Association for Palliative Care suggests that many patients with
cancer experience poor pain control and barriers to good pain management
continue to exist [15].
Current evidence suggests that services that care for patients
with cancer pain should routinely provide patient-based education
to improve knowledge on managing pain and analgesia. This is
probably best done by consistent screening for misunderstandings
about pain and analgesia when commencing analgesic therapy and
addressing these aspects through clear advice and information.
Specialist nurses and pharmacists may be best placed to lead these
initiatives, supported by written or audio-visual material to take
away.
Clinicians may be surprised to learn that for patients with cancer
pain who are already on opioid therapy, ‘prescribing’ an educational
intervention (mean additional reduction in pain intensity on
0–10 scale of about 1 point), may be more effective than the addition
of some types of co-analgesic therapies. For example, prescribing
gabapentin or paracetamol achieved mean reductions of 0.8
points, and 0.4–0.6 points, respectively, in randomised controlled
trials of around 1 week in duration [6,31].
4.4. Implications for research
Further research will help to clarify the exact relationship between
education and improved pain outcomes, and to identify
which patients may benefit most (and which may potentially be
harmed) [28]. Meanwhile, pragmatic trials are necessary to identify
whether brief or low cost exposure using audio-visual media
in a variety of settings can still achieve useful improvements for
patients (particularly for those with advanced disease), and to
determine the optimum timing of this intervention in relation to
current pain intensity.