Skip Navigation



BJA Advance Access published online on January 16, 2007
British Journal of Anaesthesia, doi:10.1093/bja/ael363
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
98/3/385    most recent
ael363v1
Right arrow E-Letters: Submit a response to the article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Taguchi, H.
Right arrow Articles by Shingu, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Taguchi, H.
Right arrow Articles by Shingu, K.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia 2007. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Intrathecal betamethasone for cancer pain in the lower half of the body: a study of its analgesic efficacy and safety

H. Taguchi*, K. Oishi, S. Sakamoto and K. Shingu

Department of Anaesthesiology, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan

* Corresponding author: Department of Anaesthesiology, Kansai Medical University, 10-15 Fumizono-cho, Moriguchi, Osaka 570-8506, Japan. E-mail: taguchi{at}takii.kmu.ac.jp

BACKGROUND: Sufficient analgesia for cancer pain is sometimes difficult to achieve with conventional treatments. We aimed at investigating the analgesic efficacy and safety of intrathecal betamethasone in patients with uncontrollable cancer pain.

METHODS: Betamethasone 1 mg mixed with saline was injected into the lumbar intrathecal space once a week in 10 patients with persistent cancer pain in the lower half of the body. During the 4-week study period, the analgesic efficacy and adverse effects related to intrathecal betamethasone were observed.

RESULTS: Long-lasting analgesia (mean numerical pain score ≤5) for 7 days, after immediate analgesia within 10 min, was obtained without the need to increase the morphine dose in 5 of 10 patients. In almost all of the patients, not only pain, but also uncomfortable symptoms were improved. Adverse effects related to neurotoxicity of intrathecal betamethasone, such as sensory and motor dysfunctions, were not observed in any patients.

CONCLUSION: When conventional cancer pain treatments are not successful, intrathecal betamethasone may be useful, as it probably induces long-lasting analgesia without adverse effects and improves activities of daily living, especially in patients with vertebral bone metastases.

Keywords: analgesics anti-inflammatory, steroid; analgesic techniques, subarachnoid; cancer; pain; toxicity, neurotoxicity


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.