Evaluation of pain and associated clinical factors in cancer patients presenting to the emergency service of an oncology branch hospital

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the visual analog scale (VAS) score, pain localization, clinical outcome, and factors such as diagnosis, cancer type, stage, and metastasis in patients presenting to the emergency service (ES) with pain.Materials and Methods: Age, gender, comorbid diseases, history of chemotherapy (CT), radiotherapy (RT), and surgery, primary organ, cancer type, duration, stage, metastasis, VAS score, diagnostic codes, and hospitalization/discharge status were recorded from the hospital database and patient files in cancer patients who presented to the ES with pain in 2023- 2024 years. The relationship between VAS scores and clinical characteristics and outcomes was examined.Results: The median age was 59.0 (16.0) years. The median cancer diagnosis was 5.0 (2.0) years. Nearly three-quarters of patients had received CT in the last month, and a quarter had received RT. 12.2% of patients had no other diagnosis and received analgesic therapy. 44.2% of patients had no diagnostic ICD code. The median VAS score was 7.0 (3.0). The VAS score of the patients admitted to ES with only pain was 8.0 (2.0). VAS scores were higher in patients with metastatic disease, who received RT in the last month, and those with bone metastasis. Correlation analysis in patients with only pain symptoms revealed a weak positive correlation between the risk of hospitalization and performance score (Rho = 0.232, p = 0.004).Conclusion: VAS scores were higher in patients with metastatic disease who received RT in the last month and those with bone metastasis, and showed a weak positive correlation with the risk of hospitalization and performance scores in patients presenting to ES with only pain symptoms. The severity of cancer pain may result in an increased hospitalization ratio along with deterioration of the patient’s general condition.