Comprehensive pain evaluation is requisite for optimal management. Few studies have evaluated pain syndromes and adequacy of associated analgesic regimens in one population. Available studies in cancer populations have focused on ambulatory patients or hospice-type inpatients. This study was designed to evaluate multiple characteristics of pain and adequacy of therapy in a broad spectrum of patients with advanced cancer presenting to a palliative medicine service. One hundred pain patients (95 with cancer) underwent a comprehensive pain evaluation consisting of history, physical examination, review of available diagnostics, and a pain assessment tool designed for routine clinical use. Seventy-one percent of 141 evaluable patients reported pain in the month before referral. In these 100 patients, 158 distinct sites of pain were reported, with 88 percent reporting a maximum of 2. Pain due to tumor was the most common cause (68 percent), and the most common pathophysiologic mechanism, somatic (52 percent). Pain was almost equally divided between continuous (48 percent) and intermittent (52 percent). Breakthrough pain occurred in 75 percent of continuous pains. Of these, 30 percent were exclusively incidental, 26percent nonincidental, and 16 percent due to end-of-dose failure. The remainder was of mixed etiology, but almost always with an incidental component. Of intermittent pain syndromes, 61 percent were incidental. On referral, analgesic dosing was inadequate and was compounded by use of regimens that typically did not meet peer-reviewed guidelines. Comprehensive studies rigorously evaluating characteristics of pain and response to treatment are a necessary first step toward more effective treatments for difficult pain syndromes.

(1) Symptom studies in advanced disease while difficult to conduct yield valuable information, (2) symptom relationships changed daily; strict timing of data collection is crucial for data analysis, (3) symptom monitoring following admission is an overlooked measure of risk assessment, (4) symptom prevalence studies alone for treatment follow-up may be misleading, (5) depression is an important predictor of symptoms and need to be more aggressively assessed and treated, (6) demographic characteristics may help identify symptom patterns and better direct treatment, (7) VRS rather than VAS was more reliable for assessing symptoms in hospice cancer patients.

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Implementing a Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee (P&T) as a management strategy for Hospice of the Bluegrass in Lexington, Kentucky, has proven to be effective in reducing costs and improving patient outcomes. Early efforts of the committee yielded the establishment of protocols and guidelines, educational programs, pharmacy newsletters for nurses, and patient education material. In the spring of 2000, Hospice of the Bluegrass developed a preferred drug list (PDL) consisting of the medications it considered essential for effective pain and symptom control. The addition of a clinical pharmacist and a P&T committee has resulted in significant cost savings and improved pharmacotherapeutic care for patients of Hospice of the Bluegrass. This model is an option for any hospice looking to achieve the same outcomes.

Diencephalic storms or paroxysmal sympathetic storms are characterized by episodic hyperhidrosis, hypertension, tachypnea, tachycardia, and abnormal posturing. These have been reported to occur in patients with hydrocephalus, intracranial tumors, and hypoxic, ischemic, or traumatic brain injury. They can be easily misdiagnosed as seizures, uncontrolled pheochromocytoma, drug withdrawal, thyroid storm, hypertensive crises, and sepsis or anxiety attacks. The most effective treatment to control these symptoms is yet to be identified. We present 2 individuals exhibiting these sympathetic surges; one whose symptoms were controlled with phenobarbital and the other with clonidine and oxycodone. Palliative medicine physicians should be made aware of this unusual complication.