Opioid-induced hyperalgesia: when pain killers make pain worse.
A 44-year-old woman had a temporal glioma and was admitted to the hospice with pain that was not controlled despite escalating opioids. Her pain levels rose after every dose increase resulting now in continuous pain, making her very low in mood. Her short-term memory had also declined in a stepwise fashion with each increase in opioids. Additionally, her poor health had had a detrimental effect on family life. Physical examination was difficult due to allodynia but no major abnormality was found.