• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was to compare pain, upper extremity function, and anxiety among disease characteristics in the breast cancer survivors and to clarify the relationship among these variables. Methods: One hundred twenty two participants with breast cancer survivors over the age of 30 were recruited from a general hospital. Data were collected from November 1 to December 25, 2006 using a structured questionnaire. Results: The mean age was 51.17 and their mean survival period was 38.08 months. The breast cancer survivors who had received radiation therapy reported lower levels of pain and upper extremity function, and higher levels of anxiety than those who had other treatments. Pain and anxiety were positively related, and upper extremity function was negatively related to pain and anxiety. Conclusion: The breast cancer survivors experienced pain, upper extremity function disorder and anxiety. This study indicates that nursing interventions for the breast cancer survivors may be needed to improve upper extremity function, and to reduce pain and anxiety.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.240-245
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• 2007

It is important to treat cancer-related pain in cancer patients to ensure the life quality of the patient, as well as to improve their life span. It has been estimated that at least 5% of cancer patients have pain refractory to medical treatment. Therefore, the need for epidural or intrathecal analgesia with opioids and local anesthetics is indicated if systemic treatment has failed. Intrathecal catheter placement and implantation of the injection port for administration of opioids and local anesthetics may improve pain relief in patients who are unresponsive to epidural routes. Although intrathecal implantation has several complications, similar infection rates have been reported between intrathecal and epidural administration. In addition, intrathecal administration showed better outcomes, including improved pain control, lowered daily doses, and an improvement in the level of drowsiness experienced when compared to epidural administration. We report here a case in which a terminal cancer patient was treated using an intrathecal catheter and subcutaneous port. The patient had cancer-related pain that could not be controlled by epidural opioid administration. Based on the results presented here, we suggest that intrathecal implantation is a feasible long term pain management method for intractable cancer pain patients.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.132-135
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• 1999

Although the vast majority (about 70%) of patients with cancer will have pain directly related to neoplastic invasion into pain-sensitive bone and soft tissue structures,as many as 20% of the adults will have pain caused directly by cancer therapy. Treatment related pain problems are important for several reasons; their appearance may be confused with more omnious pain syndromes associated with tumor recurrence or progression that may be directly lead to death of the patient; when severe, compliance with recommandations for further therapy may be adversely affected. Now, we report a case of postsurgical pain syndrome after radical neck dissection in a patient with tonsilar cancer. The pain after radical neck dissection result from injury to the cervical plexus,cranial nerve,and cervical sympathetics. In our case, we ruled out soft tissue infection and tumor recurrence,and successfully treated with gasserian ganglion block with pure alcohol in the patient having neuropathic pain in the mandible and preauricular region after radical neck dissection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8557-8562
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• 2014

Pain is a public health problem affecting more than half of cancer patients. Despite the success of the protocols currently used, pain cannot still be reduced satisfactorily in the large majority of patients. In order to improve pain management, all healthcare professionals involved with pain should have sufficient knowledge on pain assessment and treatment, and should inform patients to prevent patient-related barriers. In this compilation, the prevalence values and the treatment methods of cancer pain, and the barriers to pain management have been assessed.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.12-21
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• 2020

Purpose: The study was to develop a tailored education and coaching program (TECP) for cancer patients, and to identify the effects of TECP on pain severity, daily living impairment, barriers on pain management, self-efficacy, and pain management satisfaction. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was used. Patients referred to an oncology nurse specialist from oncologists for pain management were randomly assigned to TECP (25) or usual education program (UEP, 22). The intervention was offered by educating the method of taking opioid medication, managing opioid-induced side effects, reducing pain misconceptions and enhancing self-efficacy for communicating with a medical team on cancer pain severity, and pain-related impairment. Patients completed questionnaires before the education program and on the next visit 3~4 weeks later. Data were analyzed by SPSS 19.0 program using percentage, frequency, mean, standard deviation, x² test and independent t-test. Results: At all levels, pain severity improved significantly in the experimental group-worst pain (8.16 to 3.80, p<.001), average pain (6.16 to 2.52 p=.008), and least pain (3.32 to 0.96, p=.038)-but not in the control group. Pain management satisfaction also showed significant differences (t=2.93, p=.005) between experimental (4.70±0.49) and control (4.17±0.73) groups. Interference with daily living, barriers to managing cancer pain, and self-efficacy for managing pain improved in both groups but there were no significant differences. Conclusion: The findings suggest that TECP should be considered for outpatients who need cancer pain management.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.43-58
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• 2000

Pain management is a major issue in caring of cancer patients. Patients' concerns for reporting pain and taking analgesics are patient-related barriers to the management of cancer pain. Since such study has not been done at all in Korea, it is clearly needed to study on these problems. The purpose of this study is to attain basic data in order to improve cancer pain management in Korea. This is done by: 1) examining the extent of patients' concerns that might be barriers to the optimal pain management, and the extent of related factors (pain management hesitancy, adequacy of using analgesics, pain severity and pain interference); 2) identifying the relationship between patients' concerns and the related factors. The data has been collected from 180 cancer patients who were hospitalized in medical wards of one university hospital in Seoul, Korea during the period from November 1, 1997 to February 28, 1998. The data has been collected through interviews with (1) Barriers Questionnaire - Korean Version (BQ-K); (2) Hesitancy Experience Questionnaires (HQ); (3) Pain Management Index (PMI); (4) Brief Pain Inventory (BPI); and (5) Demographic Data. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and by t-test, One-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation using SPSSWIN program. The Results are as following: 1) The mean scores of Pain Management Concerns (PMC) by BQ-K were toward the moderate with a little high points(2.59). Most of the patients (99.4%) had some extent of concerns (over lout of maximum 5 points). Among the eight subscales of BQ-K, the Pain Management Concerns (PMC) about 'Fear of tolerance' was the highest (3.80) and 'Worry about side effects' was the least (1.40). 2) The extent of Pain Management Hesitancy (PMH) by HQ of wnom had pain on the day of the interview was a little higher than moderate score(5.53 out of maximum 10 points). 6.7% of the patients with experiencing pain used less adequate analgesics for the severity of pain than they were expected. 27.8% of them never used any analgesics at all. The mean score of pain severity by BPI was 16.59 (maximum: 40), and that of the interference with daily life by BPI was 32.03 (maximum: 70). 3) The patients who were older, less educated, and in low socio-economic status were likely to have more concerns. Pain Management Concerns (PMC) was positively correlated with Pain Management Hesitancy (PMH) (r=.75), pain severity (r=.44) and pain interference (r=.50). Those who were not using adequate analgesics had higher Pain Management Concerns (PMC) than did those who were using adequate analgesics (t=-5.42). The patients who had more Pain Management Concerns (PMC) tended to hesitate more to report pain and to use analgesics. They used more inadequate analgesics for the severity of pain and also had experienced more pain severity and interference with daily life. In conclusion, the patients' concerns for reporting pain and for using analgesics are major patient-related barriers to cancer pain management in Korea. The patients' concerns were correlated significantly with the level of the hesitancy experience, inadequate use of analgesics, the pain severity and the interference with daily life. Considering this, an educational program for cancer patients under the treatment with analgesics should be developed in order to solve these problems.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.197-203
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• 2011

Purpose: Pain is the most common and influential symptom in cancer patients. Few studies concerning pain intensity in the terminally ill cancer patients have been done. This study aimed to identify factors related with more than moderate pain. Methods: This study used secondary data of 162 terminal cancer inpatients at the palliative ward of six training hospitals in Korea. Physician-assessed pain assessment was by 10 point numeric rating scale. Substantial pain was defined more than moderate intensity by the Korean National Guideline for cancer pain. The Korean version of the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory was self-administered to assess symptoms. Survival prediction was estimated by the attending physicians at the time of admission. Results: Less than six weeks of predicted survival and more than numeric rating of six for worst drowsiness in the previous 24 h were significantly related to substantial pain (P=0.012 and P=0.046, respectively). The dose of opioid analgesics was positively related to substantial pain (P=0.004). Conclusion: Factors positively related to substantial pain were less than six weeks of predicted survival and considerable drowsiness. Careful monitoring and active preparation for pain are required in terminal cancer patients having those factors.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.230-235
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• 2010

Background: Bone cancer pain has a disruptive effect on the cancer patient's quality of life. Although ginsenosides have been used as traditional medicine in Eastern Medicine, the effect on bone cancer pain has not been throughly studied. The aim of this study was to determine whether ginsenosides may alter the bone cancer pain at the spinal level. Methods: NCTC 2472 tumor cells ($2.5{\times}10^5$) were injected into the femur of adult male C3H/HeJ mice to evoke bone tumor and bone cancer pain. To develop bone tumor, radiologic pictures were obtained. To assess pain, the withdrawal thereshold was measured by applying a von Frey filament to the tumor cells inoculation site. The effect of intrathecal ginsenosides was investigated. Effect of ginsenosides (150, 500, $1,000{\mu}g$) was examined at 15, 30, 60, 90, 120 min after intrathecal delivery. Results: The intrafemoral injection of NCTC 2472 tumor cells induced a radiological bone tumor. The withdrawal threshold with tumor development was significantly decreased compared to the sham animals. Intrathecal ginsenosides effectively increased the withdrawal threshold in the bone cancer site. Conclusions: NCTC 2472 tumor cells injection into the mice femur caused bone tumor and bone cancer pain. Intrathecal ginsenosides attenuated the bone cancer-related pain behavior. Therefore, spinal ginsenosides may be an alternative analgesic for treating bone cancer pain.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.62-69
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• 2014

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to report a case series of advanced cancer patients whose cancer pain was relieved by using autonomic nerve pharmacopuncture (ANP) treatment. ANP is a subcutaneous injection therapy of mountain ginseng pharmacopuncture (MGP) along the acupoints on the spine (Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue; 0.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the spinous processes of vertebrae) to enhance the immune system and to balance autonomic nerve function. Methods: Patients with three different types of cancer (gastric cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer with distant metastases) with cancer pain were treated with ANP. 1 mL of MGP was injected into the bilateral Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue on the T1-L5 sites (total 12-20 mL injection) of each patient's dorsum by using the principle of symptom differentiation. During ANP treatment, the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain was used to assess their levels of cancer pain; also, the dosage and the frequency of analgesic use were measured. Results: The cancer pain levels of all three patients improved with treatment using ANP. The VAS scores of the three patients decreased as the treatment progressed. The dosage and the frequency of analgesics also gradually decreased during the treatment period. Significantly, no related adverse events were found. Conclusion: ANP has shown benefit in controlling cancer pain for the three different types of cancer investigated in this study and in reducing the dosage and the frequency of analgesics. ANP is expected to be beneficial for reducing cancer pain and, thus, to be a promising new treatment for cancer pain.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1503-1510
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• 2014

Breast cancer bone metastasis causing severe morbidity is commonly encountered in daily clinical practice. It causes pain, pathologic fractures, spinal cord and other nerve compression syndromes and life threatening hypercalcemia. Breast cancer metastasizes to bone through complicated steps in which numerous molecules play roles. Metastatic cells disrupt normal bone turnover and create a vicious cycle to which treatment efforts should be directed. Bisphosphonates have been used safely for more than two decades. As a group they delay time to first skeletal related event and reduce pain, but do not prevent development of bone metastasis in patients with no bone metastasis, and also do not prolong survival. The receptor activator for nuclear factor ${\kappa}B$ ligand inhibitor denosumab delays time to first skeletal related event and reduces the skeletal morbidity rate. Radionuclides are another treatment option for bone pain. New targeted therapies and radionuclides are still under investigation. In this review we will focus on mechanisms of bone metastasis and its medical treatment in breast cancer patients.