Managing Pain and Discomfort in Children with Cancer

AbstractPurpose of ReviewApproximately 15,600 children are diagnosed with cancer annually. Many of these children have cancer-related pain that improves with cancer treatment, but some develop intractable pain from cancer progression or sequelae from treatment modalities. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical evaluation of the literature relevant to pain management in children with cancer. We intend to emphasize important and up-to-date findings in pharmacology, interventional pain management, and complementary and alternative medicine.Recent FindingsAlternative medications and routes of administration, complementary and alternative medicine techniques, and interventional pain procedures offer possible routes for a multi-pronged pediatric cancer pain management plan, although high-level data is often lacking.SummaryTo improve pediatric cancer pain management, a multifaceted approach embracing the biopsychosocial model of pain is recommended, incorporating evidence-based pharmacology, complementary and alternative medicine techniques, and if needed, interventional pain procedures.

Source: Current Oncology Reports - March 30, 2022 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research