1.
Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd
; 147(22): 1089; author reply 1089-90, 2003 May 31.
Article
in Dutch
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-12814024
2.
Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd
; 147(5): 185-8, 2003 Feb 01.
Article
in Dutch
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-12645349
ABSTRACT
In three terminal patients, a man aged 19 years who suffered from progressive osteosarcoma, a man aged 71 years with a small-cell pulmonary carcinoma, and a 68-year-old woman with cerebral metastases from a mammary carcinoma, delirium developed due to increased dosage of opioids for seemingly intractable pain (the first two patients) and dexamethasone (third patient). The delirium subsided after opioid rotation, administration of drugs for neuropathic pain, and treatment with an antipsychotic, respectively. This enhanced the patients' quality of terminal life and quality of dying. In terminal patients, analgesics-induced delirium must be considered, diagnosed and treated without delay.