Tong and other members of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) developed a rating system for pain associated with osseous metastases. This can help monitor the severity of a patient's initial pain and the response to pain control. The members of the Radiation Oncology Therapy Group are from multiple university cancer centers in the United States.
Parameters:
(1) severity of pain
(2) frequency of pain
(3) type of pain medication
(4) frequency of administration for the pain medication
|
Parameter |
Findings |
Points |
|
severity of pain |
none |
0 |
|
|
mild |
1 |
|
|
moderate |
2 |
|
|
severe |
3 |
|
frequency of pain |
none |
0 |
|
|
occasional (less than daily) |
1 |
|
|
intermittent (at least once per day) |
2 |
|
|
continuous (most of the time) |
3 |
|
type of pain medication |
none |
0 |
|
|
analgesics (aspirin, Tylenol, Darvon) |
1 |
|
|
mild narcotic (one half grain of codeine, percodan) |
2 |
|
|
strong narcotic (one grain or more of |
3 |
|
frequency of pain medication administration |
none |
0 |
|
|
less than daily (occasional) |
1 |
|
|
once more day |
2 |
|
|
more frequently than once per day |
3 |
where:
• Analgesics include aspirin, Tylenol, Darvon, NSAIDS.
• A mild narcotic includes one half grain of codeine or Percodan.
• A strong narcotic includes one grain of codeine or more, morphine or Demerol.
• I think that the frequency of pain medication could be modified by addition of another level for fairly continuous administration.
pain score =
= (points for severity of pain) * (points for frequency of pain)
narcotic score =
= (points for type of pain medication) * (points for frequency of pain medicine administration)
Interpretation:
• minimum pain or narcotic scores: 0
• maximum pain or narcotic scores: 9
• The higher the scores the more severe the pain and the stronger the analgesia required.
Purpose: To evaluate the level of cancer pain experienced by an oncology patient using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) pain measures.
Specialty: Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation
Objective: severity, prognosis, stage
ICD-10: J70.0, J70.1, K52.0, K62.7, L58, T66, W88, W91, Z08.1,
