Opioids for Palliation of Breathlessness in Terminal Illness
Opioids administered orally or subcutaneously are superior to placebo for breathlessness in terminal illness. Level of evidence: "A"A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 [withdrawn from publication]included 18 studies. A small but statistically significant positive effect of opioids was seen on breathlessness in the analysis of studies (n = 9) using non-nebulized opioids. For all studies, the effect (SMD) on breathlessness was -0.31, 95% CI -0.50 to -0.13, p = 0.0008.
References
- Jennings AL, Davies AN, Higgins JP et al. WITHDRAWN: Opioids for the palliation of breathlessness in advanced disease and terminal illness. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2012;(7):CD002066. [PubMed]