Pain and Palliative Care Terms

A drug displaced by its own breakdown product, which relieves no pain, lingers longer than the parent drug, and irritates the nervous system.

A drug or substance used to treat hypercalcemia (abnormally high blood calcium) and bone pain caused by some types of cancer.

Distraction most often names a technique that shifts attention away from pain, though the term also describes the surgical separation of bone or joint surfaces.

Two people in identical circumstances can report very different distress, which is why it is asked about directly rather than inferred.

One drug licensed across mood and pain, duloxetine works partly through spinal cord pathways that damp pain signals before they reach the brain.

Dyspepsia, or indigestion, is a group of upper-abdominal symptoms such as pain, burning, discomfort, early fullness, or uncomfortable fullness after eating.

Endorphins are natural opioid peptides the body releases to reduce pain signaling and contribute to a sense of well-being.

Intention is what the definitions turn on, which is why several superficially similar practices near the end of life are classified separately.

A substance being studied in the prevention of palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (pain, swelling, numbness, tingling, or redness of the palms of the hands or soles of the feet) in breast cancer…

A rare type of soft tissue tumor marked by painless nodules in the dermis (the inner layer of the two main layers of tissue that make up the skin) and subcutaneous (beneath the skin) tissue.

A condition marked by pain, swelling, numbness, tingling, or redness of the hands or feet.

A program that provides special care for people who are near the end of life and for their families, either at home, in freestanding facilities, or within hospitals.

A drug used to treat moderate to severe pain and cough.

Potency is both the point and the hazard, since a quantity that would suit morphine is far too much of this drug.

Calling a condition inflammatory says how the damage is being done, not what set it off, and those two questions stay separate.

A substance being studied in the treatment of oral mucositis (painful mouth sores) caused by cancer therapy and other conditions.

Their presence alone says little; what matters is whether the body chose to make them or was driven to it by missing insulin.

A group of symptoms such as gas, bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea resulting from the body's inability to properly absorb nutrients.

Long duration is the whole point of this anesthetic, and the same property explains why it is handled with more caution than its relatives.

An easy or painless death, or the intentional ending of the life of a person suffering from an incurable or painful disease at his or her request.