[Use of methadone in the elderly with cancer pain: a systematic review].

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To identify the clinical use of methadone as an analgesic in the management of cancer pain in elderly patients.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

We performed a systemic review of the literature on the specific use of methadone in elderly with cancer pain in MEDLINE, COCHRANE DATABASE and SCOPUS. A second search was conducted in MEDLINE to look for clinical trials and systematic review of the use of methadone in cancer pain, selecting only those in which the mean age of patients was ≥ 65 years old.

RESULTS:

Four articles were obtained in the first search, and from the second 7 clinical trials, none of them specific to methadone use in elderly patients with cancer.

CONCLUSIONS:

There are insufficient data on the use of methadone as an analgesic in the elderly with cancer. Given its pharmacological characteristics it must be used by trained personnel. Several recommendations are proposed for its use as an analgesic in the treatment of cancer pain in the elderly.

• Authors: Miren Taberna, Christian Villavicencio-Chávez, Jesús González-Barboteo
• Journal: Revista espanola de geriatria y gerontologia (Rev Esp Geriatr Gerontol) 2014 May-Jun Vol. 49 Issue 3 Pg. 129-36 ISSN: 1578-1747 [Electronic] Spain
• Vernacular Title: Uso de metadona en el anciano con dolor oncológico: una revisión sistemática.
• PMID: 24457178 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review, Systematic Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2013 SEGG. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Analgesics, Opioid
• Methadone

Topics

• Aged
• Analgesics, Opioid (therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Methadone (therapeutic use)
• Neoplasms (complications)
• Pain (drug therapy, etiology)
• Practice Guidelines as Topic