The use of opioids for palliative care in refractory dyspnoea
- Specialist Registrar in Respiratory Medicine, Chest Clinic C, Foresterhill, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen, UK; graeme_currie@yahoo.com
Dyspnoea is a disabling and distressing problem for many patients and carers. Clinicians are often reluctant to prescribe opioids for such patients because of concerns of adverse effects—particularly respiratory depression and sedation—and paucity of evidence of clinical benefit.
Abernethy and colleagues conducted a small (n = 48) double blind, placebo controlled, crossover study. Patients, most …
