Accreditation Statement
The Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Credit Designation Statement
The Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s).TM Each physician should claim only those credits that he/she actually spent in the activity.
Nurse Accreditation.
The Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation is an approved provider of the California Board of Registered Nursing, provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 4229, for 1.2 contact hours.
RNs outside California must verify with their licensing agency for approval of this course.
Target Audience
This educational program is intended for pain management physicians, pharmacists and nurses involved in pain management.
Needs Assessment
Significant pain is experienced by many cancer patients during the course of their illness. Despite the widespread availability of effective therapy, under-treatment of pain remains common. Opioid pharmacotherapy has emerged as the mainstay of drug treatment of cancer associated pain. Co-analgesics may also be administered individually or concurrently to augment pain relief. Adequate pain management is mandatory for patients with advanced incurable cancers, but similarly important for successful rehabilitation of patients with less advanced or even curable neoplasms. In spite of the long established history of opioid therapy and its widespread use, issues interfering with appropriate opioid use, such as delay and errors in prescribing opioids, remain prevalent. Misunderstandings about addiction and tolerance, by health care providers as well as patients and their families, also occur. Breakthrough pain, defined as a “transient pain episode that occurs, or breaks through from the otherwise stable background pain,” can be difficult to manage. It may be associated with specific activities, but is often unpredictable, typically rapid in onset, short in duration and similar to background pain except that it may be more severe. Pharmacological management includes the implementation of primary therapies directed against the malignancy or the source of pain, optimizing the scheduled medication, and specific pharmacological interventions for the episodic pain. Periodic updates on the pharmacological management of cancer pain are needed to optimize treatment in the clinical setting.
Method Of Participation
The activity should take approximately 60 minutes to complete. You should read the objectives and other CME/CPE/CE information, proceed through the educational offering, and take the link to the registration for credit and post-test. The evaluation on the post-test site provides you with the opportunity to comment on the extent in which the educational needs were met, the quality of the instructional process, the perception of enhanced professional effectiveness, the perception of commercial bias, and your views on future educational needs. To receive credit for this CME/CPE/CE activity, follow the instructions provided on the site. This credit is available through August 31, 2007. No credit will be given after this date.
In the event you are unable to print the certificate, please submit the post-test and then e-mail editor@dannemiller.com; a certificate will be mailed to you within 2 weeks.
Faculty Disclosure
In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation requires that any person who is in a position to control the content of a CME activity must disclose all relevant financial relationships they have with a commercial interest. Accordingly: Neil Ellison, MD disclosed that he serves as a speaker and consultant for Purdue Pharma and as a speaker for Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Karen Stanley, RN, MSN, AOCN, FAAN, disclosed that she is a consultant for Purdue Pharma. James Borwick, Medical Writer, has nothing to disclose. Dannemiller Memorial Educational Foundation staff that were involved in the development of this activity have no financial relationships with any commercial interests that are relevant to this activity. To resolve identified conflicts of interest of the faculty, the proposed educational content was fully reviewed by Bernard Abrams, MD, Clinical Professor of Neurology, University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Abrams has nothing to disclose. The resulting certified lectures were found to provide educational content that is current, evidence-based and commercially balanced.
Objectives
- Describe the problems associated with the management of cancer pain
- Discuss the pharmacologic treatment options for persistent pain associated with cancer.
- Discuss the pharmacologic treatment options for breakthrough cancer pain.
- Identify the problems associated with opioid therapy and discuss ways to overcome these problems.
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