Journal of pain and symptom management
-
Conventional chemotherapy leads to multiple adverse mucocutaneous complications such as oral mucositis, alopecia, ocular toxicity, and onycholysis. Limited pharmacologic interventions are available for preventing these clinical problems. ⋯ Regional hypothermia decreases the burden of these four chemotherapy-induced complications and is well tolerated. More research is needed to determine what subgroups of cancer patients are most likely to respond to different types of regional hypothermia, the ideal duration of cooling needed, and further improve the ease of use of the cooling devices.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2014
Multicenter StudyClinical trial participation as part of end-of-life cancer care: associations with medical care and quality of life near death.
Clinical trials are a common therapeutic option for patients with advanced incurable cancer. ⋯ Clinical trial participation is associated with aggressive EOL care. Aggressive EOL care appears to explain the association between trial participation and QOL near death.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2014
Multicenter Study Clinical TrialA report on the long-term use of fentanyl pectin nasal spray in patients with recurrent breakthrough pain.
As patients with cancer are living longer, there is a need to ensure that treatments used for palliative care are well tolerated and effective during long-term use. ⋯ FPNS appeared to provide sustained benefit and was well tolerated during long-term treatment of BTPc.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2014
Comparative StudyFeeding tubes and health costs postinsertion in nursing home residents with advanced dementia.
The best evidence suggests that feeding tubes are ineffective in persons with advanced dementia. Little is known about their health care costs. ⋯ In an analysis controlling for selection bias, PEG tube insertion is associated with a small but significant increase in annual inpatient health care costs, as well as in hospital and intensive care unit days, postinsertion.