Breakthrough cancer pain treatment in Spain: physicians’ perception of current opioids utilization and prescription

Fentanyl in cancer pain management: avoiding hasty judgments and discerning its potential benefits

“…Again, more nationwide educational programmes and training for clinicians involved in cancer pain management are needed to improve early diagnosis, appropriate treatment and adequate knowledge of the risks of overdose or misuse of analgesics. 110,199,200 Additional efforts should be directed at early identification of patients at risk of addiction 201 and at raising patient awareness of the need to avoid sharing medicines, to keep opioids under lock and key, and to dispose of expired or unused medicines. 72,111,[201][202][203] To ensure effective knowledge transfer between all healthcare professionals caring for a patient who may be at higher risk of dependence, the diffusion of personal health electronic records could be decisive.…”

“…104 Therefore, clinicians may need educational training to select the proper product for the individual patient. [105][106][107][108][109][110][111] Family and carers should also be involved in education, training and support from diagnosis through to survivorship and end of life. [112][113][114] reduces the fear of patients and their families, increases adherence to opioid therapy, and reduces opioid abuse or misuse.…”

Patient Perspective on the Management of Cancer Pain in Spain

“…Classifying pain in all of its domains can provide more information and improve understanding of patient needs to, ultimately, deliver a higher quality of pain care. Studies have shown that physicians consider there are deficiencies in pain management training (29)(30)(31). On this note, a study in Spain found that almost half of oncologists had not read the guidelines on diagnosis and treatment of BTP (13).…”