Elderly patients are at great risk for undertreatment of cancer-associated pain. Elderly patients are often undertreated because of concerns about age-related changes in the pharmacokinetics of analgesic drugs, or because pain may be considered part of the normal aging process. Cognitively impaired patients, known substance abusers, and non-English speaking patients also face significant barriers to adequate relief of cancer pain. Plexus Infiltration Headache Infiltration of Peripheral Nerve Nerve Root Infiltration and Epidural Compression Bone and Soft Tissue Infiltration Bone and soft tissue infiltration can occur with any tumor type, although it is most common with multiple myeloma, and carcinomas of the breast, prostate and lung. The most common sites are the vertebrae, pelvis, femur, and skull.
Most patients experience pain with bony metastases.
The pain is typically mechanical and well localized. Multiple bony metastases often produce multiple discrete sites of pain. Pathologic fractures and neurologic compression may complicate the presentation. Plexus Infiltration Plexus infiltration is a source of cancer pain most commonly found in gastrointestinal and genitourinary tumors as well as in lung and breast carcinomas. Neuropathic pain results from infiltration of the cervical plexus, brachial, or lumbosacral plexus.