Gaps in opioid prescription for severe breathlessness in hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or interstitial lung disease

Breathlessness is the predominant and debilitating symptom in patients with advanced chronic respiratory diseases, including COPD and ILD. The “chronic breathlessness syndrome” has recently been defined as breathlessness at rest or on exertion that leads to disability, despite optimal medical treatment (1). In addition to conventional disease-directed therapy, there is conflicting evidence suggesting (and some guidelines recommend) low -dose, oral opioids may be useful for palliating chronic severe breathlessness in ILD patients and stable outpatients with advanced COPD (2-5).

Source: Journal of Pain and Symptom Management - May 19, 2020 Category: Palliative Care Authors: Xinye Chen, Darran Treanor, Brian Le, Natasha Smallwood Tags: Letter Source Type: research