抄録
The indications for morphine in palliative cancer care are severe pain, dyspnea (tachypnea), cough and diarrhea. The use of morphine is the mainstay in managing cancer pain, because it is simple to administer and, when properly used, it is very effective in the majority of cancer patients with pain. Since the WHO Method for Relief of Cancer Pain was published in 1986, there has been an increasing global awareness of the effective use of morphine in cancer pain management. It reflects a more than ten-fold increase in the medical use of morphine in Japan during the past ten years, but the current annual consumption per capita in Japan is less than one-tenth of that in UK and some other developed countries. This means that, while educational approach has been reinforced in recent years, there is still widespread lack of the latest knowledge about the use of morphine among the health care workers in Japan. They should be taught more about the basic skills and knowledge in the latest cancer pain management, such as evaluation of the pain, the five key concepts in analgesic drug use (by mouth, by the ladder, for the individual, by the clock and attention detail), the concept of total pain and others. Pain relief is a realistic target for the majority of cancer patients and much helps improve their quality of life.
