Our data indicate a significant undertreatment of outpatients suffering from cancer pain. Taking into account the estimated total number of patients suffering from cancer, only 14.5 % (1988) and 19.0 % (1991) of all outpatients in need of strong opioids were supplied sufficiently with those analgesics. Comparing the results from the observation period in 1988 with the results from 1991 it becomes obvious that the situation has not changed. There are different reasons for the insufficiency of opioid treatment: many physicians as well as their patients are still afraid of the side effects of strong opioids. Therefore, it is necessary to improve education concerning this issue. The legal restrictions on the use of narcotics and their complexity are another important reason for doctors not to prescribe strong opioids. In 1993 the regulations were simplified; nevertheless, this has not led to a profound change in the attitude of the prescribing practitioners. Thus, further changes in legislation seem to be necessary so that the requirements for the prescription of strong opioids do not differ from other drugs.
Different clinical signs corresponding to different levels of depth of anaesthesia could be differentiated by their EEG parameters. The EEG stage allowed better differentiation of the clinical conditions than the single-parameter EEG derivatives median and SEF. The results of this study show that EEG monitoring provides information about depth of anaesthesia.
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