Treatment of Pain in Patients With Complicating Disorders: Case Report From Norway, With Commentaries From Germanf and Belgium

摘要

A 70-year-old male with a history of bipolar disorder, alcohol misuse, and polyneuropathy is presented. His treatment was complicated by multiple drugs, and by instability and falls. The advantages and disadvantages and dosing considerations with short- and long-acting analgesics are discussed.Chronic pain can be disabling and can significantly affect an individual's health-related quality of life (QoL). In addition, the medications used to treat pain can give side effects that in themselves serve to incapacitate the patient. This problem becomes especially complicated when the patient doesn't present with a "pure" textbook pain case, but a blend of different ailments, diseases, disorders, and treatments. Sometimes the designer's mantra of "less is more" is also applicable in treating elderly patients, and much good can be done by paring down the list of medications.