Journal of pain and symptom management
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PC-FACS (FastArticleCriticalSummaries forClinicians inPalliativeCare) provides hospice and palliative care clinicians with concise summaries of the most important findings from more than 100 medical and scientific journals. If you have colleagues who would benefit from receiving PCFACS, please encourage them to join the AAHPM at aahpm.org. Comments from readers are welcomed atpcfacs@aahpm.org.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2020
ReviewPulmonary arterial hypertension: A palliative medicine review of the disease, its therapies and drug interactions.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is often a progressive and ultimately fatal disease. It is characterized by an elevated mean pulmonary arterial pressure because of disease of the small pulmonary arterioles. PAH leads to a constellation of symptoms, including dyspnea, fatigue, syncope, chest discomfort, and peripheral edema. ⋯ This review describes disease-targeted therapies and their effects on symptoms, physical functioning, and health-related quality of life. We also review the unique physiology of PAH and its implication for palliative interventions. Pharmacological interactions with, and precautions related to commonly used palliative care medications, are discussed.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2020
Patterns of Symptom Management Medication Receipt at End-of-Life Among Medicare Beneficiaries with Lung Cancer.
Older adults with advanced lung cancer experience high symptom burden at end of life (EOL), yet hospice enrollment often happens late or not at all. Receipt of medications to manage symptoms in the outpatient setting, outside the Medicare hospice benefit, has not been described. ⋯ Symptom management medication receipt was common and increasing toward EOL. Lower use by males, older adults, and nonwhites may reflect poor access or poor patient-provider communication. Further research is needed to understand these patterns and assess adequacy of symptom management in the outpatient setting.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2020
Emotional Communication in Advanced Pediatric Cancer Conversations.
Cancer is a life-changing diagnosis accompanied by significant emotional distress, especially for children with advanced disease. However, the content and processes of discussing emotion in advanced pediatric cancer remain unknown. ⋯ Emotional communication in advanced pediatric cancer appears to be a subtle process where parents offer hints and clinicians respond with non-emotion-laden statements. Also, children were seldom engaged in emotional conversations. Clinicians should aim to create an environment that allows families to express emotional distress if and/or when ready.