The use of high doses of OROS hydromorphone in an acute palliative care unit

作者：Mercadante Sebastiano^*

来源：Current Medical Research and Opinion, 2011, 27(12): 2373-2376.

DOI：10.1185/03007995.2011.628982

• Cancer pain
• High doses
• OROS hydromorphone

Objectives:
To characterize patients who received high doses of OROS hydromorphone (OROD-HY), a retrospective study of patients admitted in an acute pain relief and palliative care unit for a period of two years (from June 2009 to June 2011) was performed.
Methods:
Globally, 79 patients were prescribed OROS-HY during admission at mean maximum doses of 68 mg/day (+/- 42). Twenty-two patients were switched from other opioids to OROS-HY and 16 patients were switched from OROS-HY to other opioids. Sixty-three patients were discharged home with a prescription of OROS-HY with doses of 53 mg/day (+/- 44). Doses were significantly lower in older patients (p<0.005). The mean admission time was 6.1 days (+/- 3.2). During admission 10 patients (12.6%) were prescribed doses of OROS-HY of more than 64 mg/day.
Results:
The maximum mean doses of this group of patients reached during admission were 238 mg/day. Eight of them were successfully treated and discharged home with doses of 175 mg/day. Two patients did not achieve an adequate balance between analgesia and adverse effects and received alternative treatments.
Conclusion:
This study demonstrated that OROS-HY administered in larger doses was relatively safe and effective, showing versatility and flexibility similar to other opioids.

• 出版日期2011-12