Charles, M. A., Reymond, L., & Israel, F. (2008). Relief of incident dyspnea in palliative cancer patients: a pilot, randomized, controlled trial comparing nebulized hydromorphone, systemic hydromorphone, and nebulized saline. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 36, 29–38.
To compare the efficacy of nebulized hydromorphone, systemic hydromorphone, and nebulized saline for incident dyspnea in patients with advanced cancer.
On three occasions when patients requested treatment for incident breathlessness, they randomly received one of the following:
If patients felt the intervention was not effective, they could ask for additional pharmaceutical interventions. Patients scored breathlessness at 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes from completion of treatment. Treatment order was randomized.
Patients were undergoing the palliative and end of life phases of care.
The study was a pilot, double-blind, randomized, crossover, controlled trial.
There were no differences between treatments in improvement scores. Improvement in breathlessness at 10 minutes post intervention completion was seen in each of the treatment conditions. Improvement considered to be clinically significant (≥1 cm on the VAS) was only seen with the nebulized hydromorphone. Respiratory rate improved over time from 10 to 60 minutes (p < 0.05), with no difference between treatments. There were no clear, consistent preferences among patients for any particular intervention.
The results suggest that nebulized saline provides relief of incident breathlessness; its effect is ongoing and does not differ significantly from the effects of nebulized opioid treatments.