Papers of the Week

The article that follows is purposed at demonstrating how IT opioid plus bupivacaine achieves sustained acceptable pain relief while simultaneously rapidly reducing oral morphine equivalents (OME). Cancer patients represent a population with significant morbidity, pain, and limited life expectancy. It is, therefore, vital to achieve satisfactory analgesia quickly and safely. To date, there is limited data in the literature that discusses efficacy of combined intrathecal (IT) medication therapy in reducing systemic opioids in the oncological population. This was a retrospective analysis that reviewed cancer pain patients from day of IT pump implantation through the six-month postoperative time point. A cohort of 50 oncological patients who had intrathecal drug delivery systems (IDDSs) implanted at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center between 2017 and 2019 were studied. Median OMEs were the primary modality of analysis for this review. Mean visual analogue scale scores were secondarily reviewed. Median OMEs decreased from 503 preoperative to 105 at six months postoperative time point. Median time to discharge was 6.5 days. Unfortunately, due to malignant mortality, 27 patients did not make it to the 6-month postoperative time point. IDDSs with opioid plus bupivacaine represent a safe and efficient route toward expeditious pain relief and decreased OMEs in the cancer pain population.