The aim of this study was to clarify the
prevalence and characteristics of
breakthrough pain in
cancer patients. We conducted a
cross-sectional survey of consecutive
patients older than 20 years of age admitted to a
University Hospital with a
cancer diagnosis Breakthrough pain was defined as meeting all of the following criteria:
Pain 1)with background
pain present most of the
time, 2)which is well controlled, 3)with short-lived episodes of exacerbation. One hundred and sixty-nine
patients were recruited and 118(69.8%)completed the
survey. Of these 118
patients, 11%(95%CI:7–18%)had
breakthrough pain.
Breakthrough pain occurred in 23%(14–35%)of
patients with
cancer-related pain and 29%(17–45%)of
patients with
pain from the
cancer itself.
Patients reported episodes occurring up to three times a day,a
time to peak intensity of within 5 minutes, and a duration of untreated episodes of up to 15 minutes are 54%(29–77%), 54%(29–77%), 54%(29–77%), respectively.