The American journal of hospice & palliative care
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The medical records of deceased patients were reviewed to describe the pattern of cancer deaths in a newly established Saudi tertiary care hospital. During eleven months, 87 patients died of cancer. The majority (80 patients, 92%) died of incurable cancer; among which 53% did not receive any systemic anti-cancer therapy (SAT) and 43% received SAT with palliative intent. ⋯ During the last admission, 54% of patients were admitted through emergency room, 50% stayed >14 days and 14% died in intensive care unit or emergency room. The results demonstrate that palliative care is a realistic treatment for the majority of patients in our setting and that a significant proportion of these patients receive aggressive care at the end-of-life. There is a need to establish an integrative palliative care program to improve the quality-of-life of dying cancer patients in our region and to minimize the aggressiveness of end-of-life care.
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · Feb 2013
Outcomes of critically ill gynecological cancer patients admitted to intensive care unit.
To assess the characteristics of critically ill patients with gynecological cancer, and to evaluate their prognosis. ⋯ The independent prognostic factors for hospital mortality were the need for vasopressors and the APACHE II score.
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Neuropathic pain in a common problem encountered in palliative care. When neuropathic pain is diagnosed, appropriate treatment is important in limiting the severe psychosocial impairment that can ensue with undertreated pain. ⋯ Tapentadol is an oral mu-opioid receptor agonist and a noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor developed by Ortho-McNeil Janssen Pharmaceuticals and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November 2008 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain in adult patients and for chronic pain in August 2011 in an extended release form. Tapentadol has been studied for use in nociceptive pain but few studies have yet been done to assess its efficacy in the treatment of neuropathic pain.
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Am J Hosp Palliat Care · Dec 2012
A pilot study of palliative medicine fellows' hospice home visits.
This was a prospective descriptive study of hospice physician home visits (HVs) conducted by Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellows. Our objectives were 1) to improve our knowledge of hospice care at home by describing physician HVs 2) to identify the indications for physician HVs and the problems addressed during the HV. Data was collected on 58 consecutive patients using a standardized form completed before and after the home visit. ⋯ Physicians provided both education and symptom management. Physician HVs are an important intervention. HVs were important in continuity of care, however, time-consuming, and incurred considerable travel, and professional time and costs.