Chronic cancer pain
Definition
Chronic cancer pain is chronic pain caused by the primary cancer or metastases. It should be highly probable that the pain is due to cancer; if its genesis is vague, consider using codes in the section of chronic primary pain. Chronic cancer pain is a presenting feature of cancer in over 30% of patients. About 64% of patients experience pain with advanced or persistent cancer. On average, each cancer patient will identify two distinct pains. In many patients, careful assessment is therefore required to distinguish pain caused by cancer from pain caused by cancer treatment or co-morbid conditions. In particular, it is common for these pains to overlap, for example, thoracic surgery for a lung cancer might cause post-surgical pain, which can be exacerbated by cancer recurrence in the same area. In these situations, the clinician must decide the predominant cause of pain and base treatment on this. Diagnostic Criteria. Conditions A to C are fulfilled: A. Chronic pain (persistent or recurrent for longer than 3 months) is present. B. The pain is anatomically related to a known primary tumor or metastases confirmed on clinical and radiological examination. C. The pain is not better accounted for by another diagnosis of chronic pain
Inclusions
- Chronic bone cancer pain
- Chronic neuropathic cancer pain
- Chronic visceral cancer pain