Status of Intervention of Tokuhisa-chuo Pharmacy in the Administration of Narcotic Injections for Patients with Terminal Stage Cancer Receiving Home Care Medicine

Abstract

The administration of narcotic injections is an effective method of palliative pharmacotherapy for pain management in patients with terminal-stage cancer. Tokuhisa-chuo Pharmacy is therefore involved in supporting narcotic-injection administrations for patients receiving home care medicine. The present study is based on the intervention of our pharmacy from April 2013 to March 2016 through a survey on the status of pharmacist intervention for 99 patients with cancer who were already deceased. The results indicate that in the administration of narcotic injections for 60 patients receiving home care medicine, the median period of narcotic injection was 4 days. The chief reasons for the introduction of narcotic injections were pain management and dyspnea management. The survey was comprised of intervention details and intervention frequencies of pharmacists. The results show that the pharmacists fulfilled a variety of roles, including formulation planning (97％), administration route planning (27％), guidance for patients and their caregivers (97％), and sterile preparations (60％), among others. The present study revealed the active participation of the pharmacy in administering narcotic injections for patients receiving home care medicine. This report constitutes a case study of the handling of home palliative care support by a single health insurance pharmacy.