A Treatment for Intractable Pain

악성동통(惡性疼痛) 치료(治療)를 위(爲)한 경막외(硬膜外) 터널 카데터 거치법(据置法)

Recently, epidural tunnelling was introduced for the convenience of keeping a catheter inserted for a long period of time. We had 15 cases in which used epidural tunnelling for the treatment of intractable pain mainly in terminal cancer patients. Epidural puncture with cannulation was carried out in the same technique as used for epidural anesthesia. After the subcutaneous epidural tunnelling was done from the site of the epidural entry to the anterior chest, just under the slim using a tunnelling device, the catheter was threaded through the tunnelling needle at the site of the outlet, was fixed and the tip of the catheter was connected to a filter. Five ml (2 mg) of saline diluted morphine can be given at home as needed when intractable pawn occurs. This long-term treatment of intractable pain by morphine injections through the epidural cannula place by subcutaneous tunnelling, is very convenient for the patient's daily routine and a better alternative in such a situation. Our technique, its advantages and problems were described in this paper.