• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.152-157
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• 2018

Opioid aberrant behavior is an emerging problem as strong opioid is increasingly used to alleviate cancer pain in patients with cancer. Although the treatment of opioid addiction and physical dependence for non-cancer pain is well known, few studies have been conducted with cancer patients, particularly in the Korean population. Presented here are ten cases of cancer patients who were physically dependent on strong opioid and successfully treated with a partial mu-opioid receptor agonist, buprenorphine. This is the first report showing the efficacy of transdermal buprenorphine as a treatment for physical dependence on opioid medication in cancer patients.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.256-262
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• 1999

Because chronic pain disorder may has multiple causes or contributing factors, including physical, psychological, and socio-environmental variables, the treatment of patients with the disorder requires biopsychosocial approaches in a multidisciplinary setting. In treating chronic pain, it is important to address functioning as well as pain, and treatment should be to increase functional capacity and manage the pain as opposed to curing it. Therefore treatment goal should be adaptation to pain or minimizing pain with corresponding greater functioning. Treatment begins with the initial assessment, which includes evaluation of psychophysiologic mechanisms, operant mechanisms, and overt psychiatric comorbidity. Psychiatric treatment of the patients requires adherence to sound pharmacologic and behavioral principles. There are four categories of drugs useful to psychiatrist in the management of chronic pain patients : 1) narcotic analgesics, 2) nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, 3) psychotropic medications, and 4) anticonvulsants, but antidepressants are the most valuable drugs in pharmnacotherpy for them. Psychological treatments tend to emphasize behavioral and cognitive-behavioral modalities, which are divided into self-management techniques and operant techniques. Psychodynamic and insight-oriented therapies are indicated to some patients with long-standing interpersonal dysfunction or a history of childhood abuse.