De richtlijn ‘Pijn bij kanker’ is er

The Dutch practice guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of pain in patients with cancer was developed by representatives of all medical and paramedical disciplines involved in cancer treatment. Patient representatives were also involved. It provides state-of-the-art recommendations for daily practice, as far as possible based on evidence from published scientific research. The practice guideline strongly recommends the use of pain measuring instruments. When selecting medication, the second step of the WHO Analgesic Ladder can be omitted because stronger opioids do not have more side effects than weaker ones. Much attention is paid to the treatment of these side effects, for example by opioid rotation. Implementation of this important practice guideline will be a task for years to come. A system of audit and feedback between the professionals involved is lacking. An example of such a system is the Gold Standards Framework in the United Kingdom.