The right to quality of life: K+31 hosted a round table for doctors on pain management in cancer patients

Top experts from K+31 and other clinics discussed a personalized approach to the assessment and treatment of pain in cancer patients.

Pain management is one of the most pressing problems in oncology. According to statistics, 20-50% of patients with newly diagnosed cancer experience pain, 80% of people with advanced cancer describe it as moderate or severe. But the times when pain was considered a mandatory attribute of cancer are gone. Now we know that every patient should have the highest possible quality of life, and we offer effective methods and drugs for this.

At a round table at K+31 West, doctors discussed modern approaches to pain management in cancer patients. Igor Aleksandrovich Merkulov, MD, oncologist, The Deputy Chief Physician for Oncology explained how to correctly assess pain and its causes. After all, objective physical discomfort may be aggravated by psychosomatics - anxiety, depression. This is why support and an accepting environment are so important for cancer patients. Zarina Igorevna Sypkova, Head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation K+31 West, anesthesiologist-resuscitator, spoke about modern principles of pharmacotherapy and multidisciplinary pain treatment. And Anastasia Aleksandrovna Tarasova, therapist, the head of the K+31 Lobachevsky mobile assistance service, explained the tactics of pain management in cancer patients at home, outside the hospital.

The experts also talked about palliative radiation therapy, surgical correction, physiotherapy and non-oncological causes of pain in cancer patients. The main conclusion is that the patient’s complaints should not be discounted. Pain is always an important message, to which the doctor must answer and help.

Watch the recording of the round table on our YouTube channel https://youtube.com/live/ROhpkl3jnhc?feature=share .

Round table materials are available at link