Analgésie locorégionale et qualité de vie en soins palliatifs. Étude prospective multicentrique : résultats préliminaires

Regional analgesia is effective for relieving palliative care patients' pain, when usual medications are ineffective. However, does it improve also the quality of life? A prospective multicenter study has been realized by our team to answer to this important question. It concerned patients that were followed up in palliative care for cancer and were suffering from severe pain. The first results were encouraging because 66.6 % of patients felt relieved from the pain and 58.3 % had a better quality of life. But there was a gradual decrease of the inclusions in this study, because of decreased locoregional analgesia indications. The increasing of Patient-Controlled Analgesia Pump System and new galenic form of transmucous fentanyl treatments' use could explain this.