Junior doctors' attitudes to opioids for refractory breathlessness in patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

摘要

Background: Refractory breathlessness is a common, distressing symptom in patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The judicious, offlicence prescription of opioids, together with other management strategies, can improve breathlessness, however, internationally there is profound reluctance to prescribe opioids for breathlessness in COPD.