• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.458-467
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• 2014

Pain is one of the most common and painful symptoms that cancer patients suffer from. Pain seriously affects 30-50% of the patients at the early cancer diagnosis stage or who receive active anticancer treatments, 60-70% of the patients with progressive cancer, and 80-90% of the patients at the late stage of cancer. However, there is no systematic and easy pain control program for the cancer patients. In this study, an algorithm is proposed to provide quick pain relief service upon the occurrence of sudden pain, for the purpose of controlling the sudden pain that cancer operation survivors experience. In developing the algorithm, questionnaires, evaluation forms and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guideline were considered, and a trial service was provided to a group of 20 cancer patients for a month to evaluate the designed algorithm. The results of the trial service were examined by expert medical workers to evaluate the proposed algorithm, and a 90% compatibility decision was derived, which verified the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. In the case of incompatibility decision, the management of the pain diary did not have compatible results. Therefore, the further study will additionally address the customized pain diary algorithm.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.586-600
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• 2018

The purpose of this study attempted to collect basic data for development of an integrated self-management program for cancer survivors who completed cancer treatment. Self-management programs are divided into symptom management and physical activity management. Symptom management includes fatigue, sleep disturbance, pain, depression and anxiety. PubMed, CINAHL and EMBASE were used for searching guidelines. Based on the guideline quality evaluation, the final 8 guidelines were analyzed. The structured table was used to extract the screening subjects, timing, contents, subjects for comprehensive assessment and contents, and summarized contents related to the physical activity and exercise in non-pharmacological approach. As a result, after the completion of cancer treatment, all cancer survivors should be screened regularly using reliable and validated tools. In the case of fatigue, physical activity was recommended as the primary intervention, but it was recommended for other symptoms as adjuvant therapy. Therefore, Cancer survivors should be encouraged to be active in their physical activity, and maintain the moderate intensity physical activity as long as they have no complication related to the cancer treatment. Motivation strategies for physical activity need to be developed and applied.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.249-255
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• 2016

Purpose: Up to 90% of pancreatic cancer patients suffer from neuropathic pain. In a palliative care setting, pain control in pancreatic cancer patient is one of the major goals. Ketamine is a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, effective in neuropathic pain. Additionally, there have been studies about the opioid sparing effect of ketamine. This study was held in the palliative care unit among pancreatic cancer patients to determine the factors related to ketamine use and the opioid sparing effect. Methods: The medical records of pancreatic cancer patients admitted to St. Mary's hospital palliative care unit between January, 2013 and December, 2014 were reviewed. Patients were divided into 2 categories according to ketamine use. Also, opioid use before and after ketamine use was compared in the ketamine group. Results: Compared to the non-ketamine use group, patients in the ketamine group required a higher dose of opioid. The total opioid dose, daily opioid dose, number of daily rescue medications, and daily average rescue dose were statistically significantly higher in the ketamine group. The opioid requirement was increased after ketamine administration. Conclusion: In this retrospective study, ketamine was frequently considered in patients with severe pain, requiring higher amount of opioid. Studies about palliative use of ketamine in a larger number of patients with diverse types of cancer pain are required in the future.