Pain is one of the most frequent and troublesome symptoms in cancer patients and its prevalence is estimated highest in the terminally ill patients as about 60-80%. For the patient, pain represents a major source of physical limitation, social disability, and emotional distress. For the physician, it represents a difficult diagnostic and therapeutic problem. We retrospectively reviewed 39 advanced cancer patients who had been admitted to the Hospice-ward at Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital with pain as the chief complaints to assess the cause and the severity of pain, and to rate the degree of pain-control by 'principles of pain-control'. The results were as follows: 1) Among 39 patients, 28(72%) had more than severe pain at admission and the most common cause of pain was bone metastases(51%). 2) Morphine sulfate was used in 36 patients and 35 of all 39 patients had experienced major degree of pain-control: 25(64.1%) had 100% pain-control, and 10(25.6% ) had more than 75% pain-control. 3) The side effects of morphine were constipation, nausea and vomiting, confusion, respiratory depression and sedation but no drug tolerance or addiction. Increasing the dose or changing the route of administratian of morphine through periodic and regular reassessment of pain are important to improve the pain management and to increase the level of information available to physician and patients regarding appropriate approach to pain-control.
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