Pain at the injection site of subcutaneously administered erythropoietin in maintenance hemodialysis patients: a comparison of two brands of erythropoietin.

Abstract

Local pain due to subcutaneous erythropoietin (EPO) injection into the thigh was studied using a verbal score ranging from 0 to 4. Equivoluminous doses of epoetin-alpha (Cilag) and epoetin-beta (Boehringer) were compared in 2 controlled single-blind experiments: 10 dialysis patients were treated at random for 4 weeks at consecutive sessions with both brands of EPO, and 40 patients were treated in 1 session only with the 2 brands simultaneously. Pain scores were 1.12 +/- 0.28 versus 0.15 +/- 0.06 (p less than 0.05) and 1.75 +/- 0.19 versus 0.08 +/- 0.04 for epoetin-alpha and epoetin-beta, respectively (p less than 0.001). Treatment acceptance was 48% for epoetin-alpha versus 83% for epoetin-beta (p less than 0.05).

• Authors: N Veys, R Vanholder, N Lameire
• Journal: American journal of nephrology (Am J Nephrol) Vol. 12 Issue 1-2 Pg. 68-72 ( 1992) ISSN: 0250-8095 [Print] Switzerland
• PMID: 1415368 (Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Comparative Study, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial)

Chemical References

• Recombinant Proteins
• Erythropoietin

Topics

• Aged
• Anemia (drug therapy, etiology)
• Erythropoietin (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Female
• Humans
• Injections, Subcutaneous (adverse effects)
• Kidney Failure, Chronic (complications, therapy)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Pain (etiology)
• Prospective Studies
• Recombinant Proteins (administration & dosage, therapeutic use)
• Renal Dialysis
• Single-Blind Method
• Thigh