Subcutaneous patient-controlled analgesia with hydromorphone for the treatment of refractory cancer pain in older hospitalized patients: a retrospective real-world study - Takeaways - MDSpire

Subcutaneous patient-controlled analgesia with hydromorphone for the treatment of refractory cancer pain in older hospitalized patients: a retrospective real-world study

  • By

  • Hong Yang

  • Yiming Shen

  • Mengting Chen

  • Junhui Zhang

  • Lei Lei

  • Huiqing Yu

  • June 9, 2026

  • 0 min

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  • 1

    Subcutaneous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with hydromorphone effectively managed severe cancer pain in hospitalized older patients.

  • 2

    Mean pain scores decreased significantly from 4.43 to 2.21 after 24 hours of PCA, indicating clinically meaningful pain relief.

  • 3

    Response rates showed 57.3% of patients achieved at least a 30% improvement in pain, with a median time to satisfactory analgesia of 0.6 hours.

  • 4

    Adverse events were minimal, with only 0.4% experiencing somnolence and 0.2% constipation, and no cases of respiratory depression reported.

  • 5

    The study supports subcutaneous PCA hydromorphone as a pragmatic option for refractory cancer pain in older adults, warranting further research.

Original Source(s)

Subcutaneous patient-controlled analgesia with hydromorphone for the treatment of refractory cancer pain in older hospitalized patients: a retrospective real-world study

  • by Hong Yang, Yiming Shen, Mengting Chen, Junhui Zhang, Lei Lei, Huiqing Yu

  • June 9, 2026

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