Interventional procedures for cancer pain management.

OBJECTIVE To describe types of interventional medical procedures its rationale use and benefits for a population with cancer assisted at a private hospital in São Paulo. METHODS Quantitative and descriptive cross-sectional study using data from patients submitted to interventional procedures between 2007 and 2008. We used descriptive and inferential statistics (frequency, mean, and t-test) to analyze data. RESULTS A total of 137 patients were submitted to interventional procedures for pain and, out of this total, 14 mentioned cancer-related pain. The mean pain intensity was 7.1 before the procedure and 1.3 after it. Reduction in pain intensity was statistically significant in this population (t=9.09; p=0.001). In almost 70% of patients (n=10) a reduction of 50% of the consumption of opioid a month after the procedure was realized. CONCLUSION These results are in accordance with the literature and support the efficacy of interventional procedures for several types of cancer pain.