Clinical study of different doses of oxycodone for severe pain in cancer patients

Objective To investigate the optimal dose of oxycodone for severe pain in cancer patients so as to try to alleviate the suffering rapidly. Methods Totally 135 cases with severe pain in terminal cancer patients were randomly divided into groups A, B, and C, 45 cases in each group. Groups A, B, and C were treated with oxycodone hydrochloride sustained-release tablets 20~140 mg/d, 150~290 mg/d, 300~640 mg/d, respectively. Pain relief and incidence of adverse reactions were evaluated 2 weeks later. Results Pain intensity scores (numerical rating scale, NRS) in 3 groups dropped with statistical difference(P 0.05). Conclusions Large dose and extra large dose of oxycodone hydrochloride sustained-release tablets can effectively relieve severe pain in advanced cancer patients. Extra large dosage can improve patient's quality of life in spite of the higher incidence of adverse reactions, and patients can still be tolerated well. Key words: Oxycodone/AD; Neoplasms/CO; Pain/ET/DT