Rapid titration of opiate doses via patient-controlled intravenous analgesia for patients with severe cancer pain

This study was to investigate the feasibility and safety of patient-controlled intravenous analgesia for opiate titration in patients with severe cancer. Eligible patients with cancer pain were randomly divided into two groups, which were titrated with a subcutaneous injection of morphine and patient-controlled intravenous analgesia, respectively. The time required for patients to begin titration to reach visual analog scale score. 3, the adverse reactions during titration, the time spent by nurses in titrating each patient, and the time to complete the titration with a delayed-release dosage form analgesic effect and adverse reaction. The mean titration time of patient-controlled intravenous analgesia group (1.09 +/- 0.82 vs 2.97 +/- 1.98) and morphine dosage (18.78 +/- 12.32 vs 13.23 +/- 8.07) were significantly lower than those in the subcutaneous group (P < 0.05). The incidences of nausea, vomiting, pruritus, urinary retention, and sedation in the subcutaneous injection group were significantly lower than those in the subcutaneous injection group (P < 0.05). The assessment times of the two groups (10.19 +/- 3.72 vs 10.25 +/- 4.88) were similar (P > 0.05). However, the time required for subcutaneous injection in patients under patient-controlled intravenous analgesia was significantly lower than that in the subcutaneous injection group (36.36 +/- 12.15 vs 132.36 +/- 32.79), which was statistically significant (P < 0.05). After the titration, the controlled release opioid was used to treat cancer pain. The visual analog scale score of the patient-controlled intravenous analgesia group was significantly lower than that of the subcutaneous group (2.44 +/- 1.37 vs 2.73 +/- 0.91) at 7 days after treatment in the subcutaneous group (1.05 +/- 0.30 vs 2.45 +/- 1.29; P < 0.05). Patient-controlled intravenous analgesia technique can effectively and quickly complete the titration of cancer pain treatment with less occupational care resources and is better than the subcutaneous injection titration.