We used the antiarrhythmic drug lidocaine as a sedative adjuvant for cancer pain management in patients with chest malignancy.Good results were obtained for 9 out of the 10 patients treated and 4 were able to switch to home care or that in which they were basically hospitalized but could spend some of the time at home.Terminal cancer patients usually wish to receive treatment at home.
The most important point in home care is pain control and the second most important is to have as few restrictionss as possible in treatment.In this regard,normal continuous intravenous infusion therapy is much more restrictive than continuous lidocaine infusion therapy using a portable disposable infusion pump.The latter achieves good pain control,enhances ADL,and enables home care to be included in treatment.
