Trial reportBritish journal of cancer2013
Epidural methadone results in dose-dependent analgesia in cancer pain, further enhanced by epidural dexamethasone.
Trial report in British journal of cancer, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of combined adjuvant therapeutic drugs in modulating opioid dosage and pain status in cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Methadone for cancer pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Pharmacological treatments for fatigue associated with palliative care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Corticosteroids for the management of cancer-related pain in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Epidural methadone and morphine pharmacokinetics and clinical effects in healthy volunteers: A randomized, crossover-design trial.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2024Trial
- Potentiation of epidural lidocaine by co-administering tramadol by either intramuscular or epidural route in cats.Canadian journal of veterinary research = Revue canadienne de recherche veterinaire · 2015Trial
- Intrathecal drug delivery systems: A case series advancing surgical, clinical, and technological safety with broader implications for invasive neuromodulation therapies.SAGE open medical case reports · 2025Article
- Comparison of the application of lidocaine, lidocaine-dexamethasone and lidocaine-epinephrine for caudal epidural anesthesia in cows.Iranian journal of veterinary research · 2018Article
- Pharmacological options for the management of refractory cancer pain-what is the evidence?Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2015Review
- Analgesia after Epidural Dexamethasone is Further Enhanced by IV Dipyrone, but Not IV Parecoxibe Following Minor Orthopedic Surgery.The Korean journal of pain · 2014Article
- Low-dose spinal neostigmine further enhances the analgesic effect of spinal bupivacaine combined with epidural dexamethasone, following orthopedic surgery.Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study was designed to evaluate the role of epidural methadone-lidocaine in cancer pain combined or not to epidural dexamethasone.
methodsIn all, 72 cancer patients, 32- to 67-year-old were randomized to six groups (n=12) and prospectively studied to examine analgesia and adverse effects for 3 weeks. Patients received single-dose protocol epidural test drugs: Control group (CG) received epidural 40-mg lidocaine diluted to 10-ml volume with saline. Dexamethasone group (DG) 40-mg lidocaine plus 10-mg dexamethasone. The 2.5MetG 2.5-mg epidural methadone with 40-mg lidocaine; the 5MetG, 5-mg epidural methadone plus 40-mg lidocaine, the 7.5MetG, 7.5-mg epidural methadone plus 40-mg lidocaine and finally the 7.5Met-DexG, 7.5-mg methadone with 40-mg lidocaine and 10-mg dexamethasone.
resultsGroups CG, DG and 2.5MetG were similar regarding analgesia and side effects. Patients from 5MetG and 7.5MetG took 3 ± 1 and 5 ± 1 days, respectively, to restart oral morphine. Patients from 7.5MetDG took 14 ± 2 to restart oral morphine (P<0.001). Daily somnolence and appetite improved in the 7.5MetDG during 2-week evaluation (P<0.005). Fatigue improved for both DG and 7.5MetDG during 2-week evaluation (P<0.005). By the third week of evaluation, all patients were similar.
conclusionsEpidural methadone plus lidocaine resulted in dose-dependent analgesia, further improved by epidural dexamethasone, which also improved fatigue.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.