Study on the efficacy of and adverse reactions to high-dose dexamethasone therapy for neurological symptoms of spinal cord compression due to malignant tumors

<b>Objective</b>: Spinal cord compression symptoms are complications that greatly reduce the quality of life of cancer patients. We report a retrospective study on the efficacy of and adverse reactions to high-dose dexamethasone therapy for patients with concomitant spinal cord compression symptoms. <b>Subjects</b>: This study included 8 patients with concomitant spinal cord compression symptoms who received high-dose dexamethasone therapy at our hospital between May 2009 and September 2011. <b>Results</b>: Only high-dose dexamethasone therapy was performed in 8 patients who could not undergo radiotherapy or surgery in combination. Among them, the results of manual muscle testing were improved in 4 patients (50.0%), and grades according to the modified Frankel Classification showed improvement in 5 patients (62.5%). Out of 7 non-ambulatory patients, one (14.3%) regained independent ambulation with highdose dexamethasone therapy alone and was discharged home. No serious adverse reactions were observed in any of the 8 patients. <b>Discussion</b>: This study suggested high-dose dexamethasone therapy to possibly be a useful option for relieving neurological symptoms in patients with spinal cord compression who cannot undergo radiotherapy or surgery in combination.

Successful pain control in a patient with a desmoid tumor complicated by having selected the medicine considering the pharmacokinetic of the opioid

<b>Case</b>: The patient was a man in his 40s who had undergone proctocolectomy for familial polyposis coli and extensive resection of the small intestine for removal of an intra-abdominal desmoid tumor. He presented to our hospital with abdominal pain caused by residual desmoid tumor, and diarrhea associated with the short bowel syndrome. Adequate pain control could not be achieved even with simultaneous application of 5 sheets of 100 μg/h transdermal fentanyl patches. Subsequently, the patient was treated mainly with 270 mg/day of a slow-release morphine preparation; however, the pain control remained unsatisfactory. At our hospital, the pain treatment was switched to 240 mg/day of morphine solution, which yielded prompt reduction of the pain intensity from 9/10 to 1/10 on the numerical rating scale. <b>Discussion</b>: Morphine is mainly absorbed from the small intestine. The initially insufficient pain control in this patient may have been attributable to the short bowel syndrome and diarrhea causing rapid excretion of the morphine before it was absorbed. Morphine solution, in contrast, starts to be absorbed approximately 10 minutes after administration, allowing adequate absorption, leading to successful pain control, even in the present patient with the short bowel syndrome.