In the
pain treatment of patients with incurable head and neck
tumors it may be difficult to provide adequate oral
drug therapy in the advanced stages. In these cases continuous subcutaneous application of
morphine by means of external
infusors is an alternative. An example of the method of continuous subcutaneous application of
analgesics in
pain therapy is shown in a patient suffering from a
chondrosarcoma of the maxilla. Because oral
pharmacotherapy provided insufficient
analgesia in the final stage of the
tumor disease, it was replaced by continuous subcutaneous application of
morphine hydrochloride. A flexible
cannula was inserted into the upper arm and connected to an external portable
infusor device. Because of growing
tumor infiltration, we progressively increased the
morphine dosage. Nevertheless, continous subcutaneous application of
droperidol,
dexamethasone and
clonidine was also needed to achieve much better
analgesia. The technical simplicity of this safe and effective treatment make it suitable for
outpatient care in
tumor clinics.