Opioids in Cancer Pain

Edited by Karen Forbes

Oxford Pain Management Library

Short evidence-based sections on individual opioids makes it easy for clinicians to find the appropriate information
Contributions are grouped under route of administration making the book practically relevant when faced with a patient who needs/prefers a given route of administration
Provides comparisons between morphine and other opioids to enable the clinician to make the right choice
The use of key points and summary tables helps the reader to find the information they need

Opioids in Cancer Pain

Edited by Karen Forbes

Oxford Pain Management Library

Description

The World Health Organisation published 'Cancer Pain Relief' in 1990, advocating simplicity in the choice of analgesic and of route of administration. Since that time an increasing number of opioids for moderate to severe pain in an increasing number of formulations have become available, making professionals' choices about cancer pain management more complex.

Part of the Oxford Pain Management Library, this book compares and reviews the current opioids for moderate to severe pain and considers their place in the management of cancer pain, using morphine as the accepted 'gold standard' worldwide. The first sections of the book deal with the principles of pain management in cancer pain and the range of treatments available for pain due to cancer. Chapters on opioid pharmacology, starting and titrating opioids and managing their adverse effects are followed by discussion about talking to the patient commencing opioids for moderate to severe pain.

Sections also include current evidence around opioid prescribing in patients with liver and renal impairment, respiratory disease or a history of substance misuse. This book presents current evidence in a clinically-based, practical and applicable way, so that the book is useful for all healthcare professionals caring for patients with pain due to cancer.

Opioids in Cancer Pain

Edited by Karen Forbes

Oxford Pain Management Library

1:Principles of management of pain due to cancer, Karen Forbes
2:The range of treatments for pain due to cancer, Peter Hoskin
3:The development and efficacy of the WHO analgesic ladder, Augusto Caraceni and Stefan Grond
4:Opioid receptors, Catherine E. Urch
5:Starting opioids for moderate to severe pain: talking to the patient, Karen Forbes and Colette Reid
6:Principles of opioid titration, Marie Fallon
7:Management of adverse effects, Marie Fallon
8:Morphine, Marie Fallon
9:Oxycodone, Colette Reid and Eija Kalso
10:Hydromorphone, Naeem Ahmed and Catherine E. Urch
11:Methadone, Matt Makin
12:Other alternative oral opioids, Matt Makin
13:Transdermal opioids, Luke Feathers and Christina Faull
14:Other routes of opioid administration, Giovambattista Zeppetella
15:Spinal opioids, Karen H. Simpson and Ganesan Baranidharan
16:Parenteral opioids, Jeremy Johnson
17:Opioids in special circumstances, Fliss Murtagh, Polly Edmonds and Chris Farnham

Opioids in Cancer Pain

Edited by Karen Forbes

Oxford Pain Management Library

Author Information

Edited by Karen Forbes, Consultant and Macmillan Professorial Teaching Fellow in Palliative Medicine, United Bristol Healthcare Trust and University of Bristol, UK

Contributors:

Naeem Ahmed, Pain Fellow, St Mary's Hospital, London
Ganesan Baranidharan, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management
Augusto Caraceni, Medical Director, National Cancer Institute of Milan, Italy
Polly Edmonds, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Kings College Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK
Karen Forbes, Consultant and Macmillan Professorial Teaching Fellow in Palliative Medicine, United Bristol Healthcare Trust and University of Bristol, UK
Marie Fallon, Directorate of Clinical Oncology, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
Chris Farnham, St John's Hospice, St John's Wood, London, UK
Christina Faull, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, Leicestershire and Rutland Hospice, Leicester, UK
Luke Feathers, Leicestershire and Rutland Hospice, Leicester, UK
Stefan Grond, Stellv. Direktor, Universitatsklinik fur Anasthesiologie und Operative Intensivmedizin, Halle, Germany
Peter Hoskin, Professor in Clinical Oncology, University College London, UK
Jeremy Johnson, Medical Director, Severn Hospice, Shrewsbury, UK
Eija Kalso, Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
Matt Makin, Programme Lead for Pain, Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute, Liverpool
Fliss Murtagh, Department of Palliative Care and Policy, Weston Education Centre, London, UK
Colette Reid, Specialist Registrar in Palliative Medicine, Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre, Bristol, UK
Karen H. Simpson, Consultant in Pain Management, Seacroft Hospital, Leeds, UK
Catherine E. Urch, Consultant in Palliative Medicine, St Marys and Royal Brompton Hospitals, London, UK
Giovambattista Zeppetella, Medical Director, St Clare Hospice, Hastingwood, Essex, UK

Opioids in Cancer Pain

Edited by Karen Forbes

Oxford Pain Management Library

Reviews and Awards

"...provides easily understood, rational, evidence-based explanations of the broad principles of cancer pain management...packed with useful clinically relevant information...a little gem that can be recommended very highly for any doctor who prescribes opioids for patients with cancer pain." - British Journal of Anaesthesia