Liver Cancer Treatment — Pain Management

Pain Management for Liver Cancer

Many patients with advanced liver cancer experience pain during the course of their disease. The tumor itself can cause pain by pressing against nerves and other organs. Liver cancer treatment may also cause discomfort. The care team at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) is acutely aware that unrelieved pain can significantly diminish your quality of life, and should be managed appropriately.

Liver cancer pain may be acute or chronic. Acute pain generally results from tissue damage and is of limited duration. Once the cause of pain has been identified, it can be successfully managed. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is persistent--usually greater than three months in duration. Because the cause of chronic pain often cannot be altered, your nervous system will adapt, which may cause depression, anxiety and/or insomnia.

Causes

If you experience cancer-related pain, the severity and prevalence of your pain may depend on many factors, including the stage of the liver cancer, the location of metastases, and your pain threshold. Cancer-related pain can result from both the disease process and liver cancer treatment itself.

The impact of pain is different for everyone. Factors such as your personality, age, perception, pain threshold and past experiences with pain all play a role in how pain will impact you. In addition, psychological factors, such as fear and worry can also influence your experience of pain. Other factors, such as insomnia, fatigue and anxiety may lower the pain threshold, while rest, sleep and diversion can raise it. If you are in pain, it should always be acknowledged and treated.

Assessment

An accurate assessment of your pain experience provides a basis for an evaluation of various pain management techniques. At CTCA, our pain management clinicians provide a comprehensive assessment that includes information about the following dimensions of your pain:

• Location
• Intensity
• Factors influencing its occurrence (i.e., what makes it better or worse)
• Observed behaviors during pain
• Psychosocial variables (e.g., attitudes, situational factors)
• Effects of pain
• Effects of therapy and patterns of coping.

Pain Management Techniques

Pain management aims to not only provide relief from pain, but also to help you maintain your quality of life during liver cancer treatment. Methods of pain management attempt to either control the cause of the pain or alter your perception of it.

At CTCA, we use several therapeutic approaches to pain management, including pharmacological and non-pharmacological pain control. Pharmacological pain control involves the use of analgesics, and other medications that intensify the analgesics' effects or modify your mood or pain perception. Non-pharmacological pain control approaches, and medical treatments to relieve pain, include:

• Behavioral techniques
• Emotional counseling and support
• Physical therapy
• Radiation
• Surgery
• Neurological and neurosurgical interventions

Because of the complex nature of pain related to liver cancer, successful management usually involves a combination of techniques.