Multimodal Analgesia in Pediatric Cancer Pain Management: A Retrospective Single-Center Study

ObjectivesA multimodal approach to pain management, including potential interventional techniques, is suggested to achieve adequate pain control. This study discusses the techniques and medications employed to manage pain in pediatric oncology patients. MethodologyThis study included 90 patients under 18 years of age who underwent pain management in the algology clinic between 2002 and 2020. From the algology follow-up records, the following data were recorded: demographic information, follow-up time, cancer diagnosis and stage, cause and location of pain, systems involved, duration and intensity of pain, analgesic and adjuvant drugs prescribed, routes and duration of drug administration, complications, interventional procedures if performed, "pain intensity" scores prior to and following treatment, and daily and total analgesic consumption of the patients.ResultsThe mean age was 11.4 +/- 4.1 years (min-max: 2-17). Leukemia and lymphoma were the most frequently diagnosed (30%). Of the 31 features identified in the staging, 27 (87.1%) were stage 4 at admission. The causes of pain in children were neoplasms in 81.2% (n = 73). At admission, 72.3% (n = 65) had severe pain for at least a month. It was determined that 90% (n = 81) of the patients were using opioids and 28.9% (n = 26) were using dual opioids. The mean tramadol dose was 129.0 +/- 97.9 mg/day (12-380 mg/day), and the mean morphine dose was 14.8 +/- 11.3 mg/day (1-52 mg/day). The mean transdermal fentanyl dose was 33.2 +/- 21.6 mu gr/h (12-75 mu gr/h). Adjuvant therapy was administered in 25.6% (n = 24) of the patients. Epidural catheterization was performed on 6.6% (n = 6) of the patients. The mean initial pain scores were 5.2 +/- 1.7, which decreased to 1.5 +/- 0.7 with a significant difference (p < 0.001). In the study, 93% (n = 84) of the patients had no pain management complications noted.ConclusionsThe pain level that pediatric cancer patients endure critically influences their and their family's quality of life. The fact that opioid-related adverse effects associated with pediatric pain management occur far less frequently than previously thought may help prevent opiophobia. Effective and safe analgesia can be provided with multimodal analgesia to manage pediatric cancer pain.