[Pain management in radiation oncology]

Abstract

The goal of this article is to propose some practical means of pain management in radiation departments. Pain management in radiation oncology is difficult because of the high proportion of painful patients, underestimation by medical teams, and limited therapeutic options. Pain can cause mobilization difficulties, set-up errors, treatment interruption. According to procedure steps, a preventive attitude (for pre-radiation consultation) or an active attitude (for treatment) to quickly relieve the patient can be planned. This work is a brain storming about pain management. It is not a review about analgesic radiotherapy. The practical situations apply to patients to whom radiotherapy is indicated. Teamwork and anticipation are keywords to relieve patients. All proposed means are not always available for different reasons (time, finance, staff, training). The idea is to establish simple procedures that are appropriate to each center to fluidify acts, to optimize time for a successful irradiation.

Keywords: Anticipation; Douleurs; Pain; Plateau technique; Radiation department; Radiation therapy; Radiothérapie.