The American journal of hospice & palliative care
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Experts believe that the time preceding death can be comfortable if people die without pain, with dignity, and in their own way. Given current analgesic options, psychological and spiritual interventions, and an effective health care delivery system, all these goals are achievable. Pain management is one of the most important aspects of end-of-life care. ⋯ Ideally, analgesics should be initiated as soon as appropriate. The variety of routes of delivery, ranging from oral to transdermal or epidural to intrathecal, allows a selection that will achieve comfort and yet be least troublesome for the caregiver and patient. As the palliative care specialty continues to grow in the United States, it is imperative that health care professionals in the field develop basic to advanced primers to assist in equipping colleagues in all specialties with an understanding of effective opioid use, as well as the multidimensional aspects of helping patients achieve comfort at the end of life.
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · Mar 2001
Anesthesia practitioner involvement, invasive treatments, and need in hospice pain management: a survey of patient care coordinators.
Pain management is one of the major concerns for the terminal patient. The hospice care team is a highly trained group of health care providers in the area of symptom control, including pain management, for the dying patient. Anesthesia providers also specialize in pain control. ⋯ Forty percent responded that more patients could be considered as candidates for invasive pain management techniques if procedures were performed in the patient's home or hospice. Access to anesthesia pain management services was limited by distance to pain clinics and anesthesia practitioners, and more anesthesia pain management services were needed for hospice patients in smaller communities. Cost of anesthesia pain management was frequently proposed as a prohibitive factor.