Pain Management Based on NCCN Guideline in Patients with Lung Cancer.

Kim, Hyeon Tae; Koh, Kyung Won; Kim, Yeo Myeong; Kang, Min Soo; Noh, Hee Sun; Kim, Hye Ryoun; Kim, Cheol Hyeon; Lee, Jae Cheol

doi:2009.67.3.221

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 67(3); 2009 > Article

Original Article

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2009;67(3):221-225.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2009.67.3.221 Published online September 1, 2009.

Pain Management Based on NCCN Guideline in Patients with Lung Cancer.

Hyeon Tae Kim, Kyung Won Koh, Yeo Myeong Kim, Min Soo Kang, Hee Sun Noh, Hye Ryoun Kim, Cheol Hyeon Kim, Jae Cheol Lee

Department of Internal Medicine, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences, Seoul, Korea. jclee@kcch.re.kr

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Pain is one of the most troublesome problems caused by malignancy. We evaluated the change in pain status according to observance of NCCN guidelines in lung cancer patients. METHODS: Lung cancer patients complaining of pain at admission were examined. The pain was assessed with visual analogue scale (VAS) for 20 days and moderate-to-severe pain was defined as more than VAS level 3. The guideline observance was classified as high (more than 80%), medium (50~79%) and low (less than 50%). RESULTS: Among the total 91 lung cancer patients with pain, 34 patients (37%) had moderate-to-severe pain. Their average VAS score at admission was 5.6. It decreased to 2.9 after a 20-day period of pain management. The time to reach a VAS less than 3 was 3 days in a high guideline observance group, while it took 6 days in a low observance group. In addition, the pain in the high observance group was controlled to less than 3 VAS level in 86% of patients, whereas only 25% of patients in the low observance group succeeded. CONCLUSION: Pain was more effectively controlled when the dose of drugs was modified according to NCCN guidelines in lung cancer patients indicating the importance of guideline observance in pain management.

Key Words: Pain, NCCN guideline, Lung neoplasms