Liječenje maligne boli

Malignant diseases are the second most common cause of death. Progress in medicine led to a longer survival of patients with malignant diseases, thereby considering cancer a chronic disease. One of the most distressing symptoms reported by patients with malignant diseases is pain. Depending on pathophysiological mechanisms, malignant pain is divided into nociceptive, neuropathic and inflammatory pain. Since pain is a subjective feeling, great attention should be paid to its adequate assessment because this is the basis for a quality treatment of malignant pain. In treatment, pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods are used. The pharmacological approach follows a “three-step ladder” model, or its modification known as “lift model”. Non-pharmacological treatment includes psychosocial interventions, physical therapy, radiation therapy, and less often chemotherapy, anesthesiology, and surgical and neurosurgical procedures. Researches show that despite the new knowledge about the pathophysiology of pain, the availability of drugs and the existence of guidelines for the treatment of pain, this treatment is still not adequate, and 50-70 % of people with malignant diseases suffer from some degree of pain. The goal of our daily work is to change this alarming rate and to implement in the principles of supportive and palliative care which ensure the right to pain treatment to each and every patient.