PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Picco Brunetto, Alba Gabriela
TI  - Intravenous methadone in a patient with advanced cancer
AID  - 10.1136/bmjspcare-2018-001624
DP  - 2019 Sep 01
TA  - BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care
PG  - 277--279
VI  - 9
IP  - 3
4099  - http://spcare.bmj.com/content/9/3/277.short
4100  - http://spcare.bmj.com/content/9/3/277.full
SO  - BMJ Support Palliat Care2019 Sep 01; 9
AB  - A patient receiving maintenance treatment with methadone (MTM) was treated with parenteral methadone for intense pain crises in cancer of the tongue with severe mucositis and dysphagia. Authors like Manfredi et al describe good results in the use of methadone as an analgesic in patients with MTM. The difficulties which arise with parenteral use derive from the drug itself and from those to whom the treatment is administered: serious side effects like malignant arrhythmias and respiratory depression and the complex nature of these patients, addicted to opiates with a terminal illness and pain which is difficult to treat. It should be administered by experts in palliative care in a healthcare unit where it can be successfully monitored.