释义 |
analgesic ladder A venerated approach to managing a range of pain severity, formulated by the WHO for cancer; the ladder divides pain into (1) mild—requiring NSAIDs and, if the pain is post-operative in nature, infiltration with local anaesthetics (2) moderate—Step 1 plus opioid analgesics PRN (3) severe—Step 1 and Step 2 plus local anesthetic neural blockade ±catheter plus sustained-release opioid analgesics The stepwise approach to pain is valid for other types of pain—e.g., postoperative pain, sickle crisis pain, pelvic inflammatory diseaseanalgesic ladder, World Health Organization analgesic ladderA framework for the treatment of pain in patients with cancer and other disorders, in which the patient is treated first with anti-inflammatory analgesics such as ibuprofen or mild, non-narcotic pain relievers such as acetaminophen but subsequently may be treated with narcotic analgesics of increasing strengths if anti-inflammatory drugs or adjunctive therapies do not alleviate pain. |