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Abstract

Background and Objective Pain is one of the most common, unattended and unsolved problem for the cancer patients. Hence, this study aimed to examine the pain evaluation and management among cancer patients in the oncology unit of a Nigerian teaching hospital. Materials and Methods The study was a retrospective cross - sectional descriptive study of cancer pain patients seen and managed at Radiotherapy and Oncology Department of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto from November, 2015 to October, 2016. The following data were extracted from 316 patients record onto a preformed questionnaire Patients socio-demographic data, types of cancer diagnosed and their staging according to the Malignant Tumors Classification TNM, mode of pain assessment, pain severity, treatment type and the analgesic drugs use profile. Results The study included 316 patient records, males 12740.2 and 189 females 59.8. The most prevalent 90 28.5 cancer type was breast cancer, 296 93.7 had adequately managed pain in line with the WHO Analgesic Step Ladder and Codeine was the most commonly 27.6 prescribed analgesic. The most frequently prescribed analgesic combination Regimen was Codeine with Paracetamol. Conclusion This study revealed a proper and objective pain assessment in line with standard references and adequate pain control which conforms to the WHO Analgesic Step Ladder guideline in a greater proportion of the study population.