Evaluation of vascular pain in patients with colorectal cancer receiving peripheral venous chemotherapy with or without oxaliplatin

Oxaliplatin is a key chemotherapy drug in patients with colorectal cancer. Administration of oxaliplatin via a peripheral vein often causes vascular pain. However, no studies have evaluated vascular pain in patients with colorectal cancer in relation to peripheral venous administration of chemotherapy with or without oxaliplatin. We evaluated oxaliplatin-induced vascular pain using subjective and objective methods. We determined if oxaliplatin induced vascular pain in patients with colorectal cancer using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and a PainVision PS-2100 device. We compared VAS score between chemotherapy regimens with or without oxaliplatin, and between genders. We also examined the correlations of VAS score with pain intensity examined by the PainVision PS-2100, and with age and vessel diameter. A total of 98 patients with colorectal cancer were enrolled in this study, including 78 patients who received oxaliplatin via peripheral venous administration and 20 who received chemotherapy without oxaliplatin. The median VAS scores in patients with and without oxaliplatin were 36.5 (interquartile range 9.0–60.0) and 0 (0–4.0), respectively (P < 0.001), and the median pain intensities according to PainVision were 43.5 (14.3–98) and 36.5 (9.3–58.5), respectively (P < 0.001). There was a positive correlation between VAS and pain intensity (r = 0.584), but no correlation between VAS score and age (r = −0.174) or vessel diameter (r = −0.107). Peripheral venous administration of oxaliplatin induced vascular pain, measured both subjectively and objectively, in patients with colorectal cancer, regardless of vessel diameter.