Dolcontin (oral) capsel given rectalt!

[florry]

I wonder: An old lady with ca. mammae c.met. come from the local hospital to a permanent nursing home.

She had a lot of medication and was not good controlled by her pain.

The anestesiologist had a special note: GIVE DOLCONTIN (ORAL) CAPSEL IN RECTUM.

I had never heard about that, and called the only 24 hour open pharmacy in town: No, they had not heard about it. The absorb. would be very unreliable, depending on the colon and fæsces amount, they said to me.

The pt herself insisted, and her daughters husband was a medicla doctor, but of course a psychiatrist, so he said : listen to the pt. So I did. The pf. fall asleep, but this can not be a safe way to adm. Dolcontin on?

Anybody heard about it before?

[aimeee, BSN, RN]

Is Dolcontin sustained release Morphine? It can be given rectally if you really need to, but its far better to try for another long acting med through a different route for just the reason you mentioned.

For instance, we might have a family give the med rectally until a fentanyl patch can be obtained and during the first 12 hours of loading in order to cover the pain as well as possible, supplementing with concentrated liquid morphine sublingual as needed for breakthrough pain.

[florry]

Thank you! I learned something new!

And YES DOLCONTIN IS SLOW RELEASE MORPHINE CAPS. TO TAKE BY MOUTH.