Duragesic dosage?

Nurses General Nursing

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Duragesic patch....what would the maximum dosage be for a pt dying of cancer?

Start small (25 - 50mcg/hr). If not effective, work up. If you get up to 150mcg without relief, I would consider another medication (i.e;Roxonol).COMFORT, COMFORT, COMFORT!

Originally posted by sunfire:

Duragesic patch....what would the maximum dosage be for a pt dying of cancer?

One thing I found interesting regarding duragesic patches during a recent inservice on narcotic analgesics is that the initial duragesic dose should be increased after the first three days. Has something to do with the body building a fast tolerance to the medication. So start with 25, increase to 50 in three days and then go by the response of the patient to the medication after that.

I found this very intersting as I had never heard that before.

Good luck.

Jill

r/t Duragesic patch- I would say to remember that pain is highly individual-but also to remember that because it's a patch a febrile patient may use it up sooner r/t vasodilation, i.e, may get higher dose as well, and may not have coverage for expected length of duration. Good pain management in end-stage or terminal dx is a must. Good Luck.

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