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Pain management of cancer patients should be considered as important as treatment disease in the aspect of raising the quality of the patients´ life. Generally, pain control is based on the WHO 3-step analgesic ladder, and includes nerve block, radiation therapy, and physical therapy. To assess the adequacy of pain control in terminal cancer patients in this hospital, we investigated patients´ charts and gave out questionnaires to patients to observe the degree of pain, compliance, and the patients´ satisfaction. On the cancer pain intensity, 80 percent of patients experienced severe to worst possible pain. 40 percent of patients always complained cancer-related pain. The list of common side effects associated with analgesic drugs includes nausea and vomiting (45%), constipation (15%), and GI trouble (5%). Prescription pattern followed by the WHO 3-step analgesic ladder occupied 33%. The results showed most patients received inadequate pain management, and the use of analgesics was not properly carried out by stages. For adequate pain management, accurate assessment of pain and proper prescription about the patients´ disease state and condition should be considered.
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