• Sebastiano Mercadante.
• Main Regional Center of Pain Relief and Supportive/Palliative Care (S.M.), La Maddalena Cancer Center, Regional Home care program, SAMOT, Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: 03sebelle@gmail.com.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2024 May 1; 67 (5): e425e437e425-e437.

ContextMultiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory, chronic, demyelinating, and neurodegenerative disorder of central nervous system, determined by an auto-immune dysfunction. Severe disability generally occurs in patients with progressive forms of MS that typically develop either after an earlier relapsing phase or less commonly from disease onset. Despite advances in research to slow the progression of MS, this condition remains a life-limiting disease with symptoms impacting negatively the lives of patients and caregivers.ObjectivesTo analyze the difefrent aspects of palliative cae in patients with MS.MethodsTo analyse selected literature assessing several palliative care aspects in patients with MS.ResultsPeople with MS have complex symptoms and different needs. These demands include how to deal with the burden of physical disability, how to organise daily life, restructuring social roles in the family and at work, keeping self-sufficiency in personal care, and preserving personal identity and community roles.ConclusionAn early palliative care approach aims to improve the palliative care skills and competencies of health professionals caring for the patients since the early stage of disease, including those who are actively undergoing disease-targeted therapies, rather than merely providing end-of-life care.Copyright © 2024 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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