Breakthrough Pain: Symptoms And Treatment

Breakthrough pains affect the patient’s mood and psychological well-being. Find out more about them by reading today’s article.

Breakthrough Pain is a recent term. It refers to a condition that occurs in cancer patients. It is a short and temporary pain that occurs suddenly in people who already suffer from other painful conditions.

In other words, transient pain occurs in people who already have background pain and who are usually already taking medication to reduce it. However, such breakthrough pain is so intense that it exceeds the effectiveness of such treatment and  is unbearable for those who experience it.

This kind of pain affects people with chronic diseases. Experts estimate that 2 out of 3 patients who experience cancer pain also suffer from breakthrough pain. Besides, they are completely unpredictable.

It is a very intense experience that affects the quality of life and well-being of people who already suffer from painful diseases. Therefore, in today’s article, we want to explain everything you need to know about this topic.

What are breakthrough pains?

The Spanish Society for Medical Oncology’s definition of breakthrough pain is slightly more accurate. It is defined as a transient, paroxysmal and very intense intensity that occurs in the case of the current basal pains.

This means that such pain occurs in people who are already taking medications to control their pain. In addition, breakthrough pain can be divided into different types :

• Incidental, which may be predictable or unpredictable. Incidental breakthrough pain is pain associated with muscle movement, such as sneezing or coughing.
• Idiopathic that cannot be linked to any specific cause.
• Breakthrough pain that occurs as a result of low levels of pain medication. It usually occurs at a time when a dose of the painkiller that controls your pain has been taken for a long time. It also often occurs when the time between taking consecutive doses of painkillers is too long.

What are their symptoms?

Breakthrough pain can manifest differently for each patient. Its symptoms are mainly dependent on the underlying pain. For example, in a knee sarcoma, the breakthrough pain may take the form of a sudden and sharp pain in the leg.

A person with breakthrough pain may, as with any pain, sweat ,  develop rapid breathing, and have tachycardia. Her skin often turns pale and all her muscles tense.

Treatment of breakthrough pain

In order to choose the right method of treatment, it is first of all necessary to understand that the nature of such pain is not limited to the physical realm. Breakthrough pain is a situation that complicates the patient’s life and affects also his psyche.

Therefore, treatment should be both pharmacological and additional. People suffering from this type of pain often need psychological support and should use relaxation techniques and other pain management methods.

Ideally, the physician should also try to treat the stimulus that causes the pain, or at least try to protect the patient from the occurrence of breakthrough pain peaks.

In addition, medical treatment should follow a series of therapeutic strategies tailored to the type and intensity of pain.

As for drugs, opioids are most commonly used, especially fentanyl and morphine. Unfortunately, once the pain is present, it is very difficult to alleviate it with the use of commonly available painkillers. The same is true for oral opioids.

For this reason , substances which are characterized by “transmucosal absorption” are most often used. This allows the drugs to pass through the mucous membranes and enter the bloodstream directly. This makes them so much faster and more effective. You can give them, for example, under the tongue.

To sum up

A person who is struggling with painful cancer processes or a chronic disease may suffer from sudden levels of pain, which are called breakthrough pain.

In order to help patients who suffer from them and to care for their physical and mental well-being, we need to understand the complexity of this situation. Remember, however, that the treatment should always be selected by a doctor.