Management of Pain

Management of Pain

Review of Articles

This paper focuses on the review of three articles, and highlight on the comparison and differences found in these three articles. The studies are based on the same issue, 'Management of Pain'. The articles to be reviewed in this paper are, “The Effect of a Pain Management Program on Patients with Cancer Pain”, “The Situation-Specific Theory of Pain Experience for Asian American Cancer Patients” and “Providing a “Good Death” for Oncology Patients during the Final Hours of Life in the Intensive Care Unit”.

Differences

The differences that can be highlighted in the three articles are based on the fact that the sample selected for these studies are all cancer patients, however, belonging to different backgrounds. One study selects Asian American patients suffering from the disease as the sample, whereas, another is related to the study of Oncology Patients that are standing on the final stage of their life (Eun, 2008); (Caitlin, Maryjo, et al, 2011). Moreover, the third article focuses the study of this pain found in individuals suffering from the cancer, without any particular identification of their background (Mimi, Adrian, et al, 2012). Another difference that can be highlighted among the three articles is based on the use of different methodological approaches that are adopted in all three studies. Moreover, because of the presence of differences among methodology and other aspects present in these studies, the results that are derived in all three articles are also different, and present different findings, as well.

Similarities

The similarities that were found in the three articles were based on the discussion of the approaches that can be adopted for the purpose of management of pain. It may seem artificial to differentiate the approach to the pain of cancer patients and non-cancer, because the pain syndrome is characterized by substantial differences from the pathophysiological point of view.

Actually, this approach is necessary because, despite being the same as the primary objective of control the intensity of the pain, the goals of care and treatment approach will reveal very different. In chronic noncancer pain, primary objective is to reduce the impact of pain on self and activities and everyday relationships, in other word the reduction of disability (Caitlin, Maryjo, et al, 2011). The same result can be prosecuted in pain that occurs in the initial phase of the disease cancer, and palliative care in patients destined to die within a few months, the attempt to reduce disability is mostly compartment, because the ability to carry out normal activities of daily living is continually decreasing due to progression of the disease; no longer possible to refer, in this phase, only the quality of life, but it is necessary to orient the assistance towards a quality of death. Accordingly, the relief of cancer pain should be a priority in every phase of cancer disease, reached, in most cases, with drug therapy alone (Caitlin, Maryjo, et al, 2011). However, when the pain occurs as a traveling companion along the road that leads to death, it ...