Journal of palliative medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Determination of cutpoints for low and high number of symptoms in patients with advanced cancer.
While patients with advanced cancer experience a wide range of symptoms, no work has been done to determine an optimal cutpoint for a low versus a high number of symptoms. Analytic approaches that established clinically meaningful cutpoints for the severity of cancer pain and fatigue provided the foundation for this study. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal cutpoint for low and high numbers of symptoms using a range of potential cutpoints and to determine if those cutpoints distinguished between the two symptom groups on demographic and clinical characteristics and depression, anxiety, and quality of life (QOL). ⋯ Psychological symptoms had higher occurrence rates in the high symptom group. Findings suggest that a threshold exists between a low and a high number of symptoms in patients with advanced cancer. Psychological symptoms were significantly different between patients in the low versus high symptom groups and may play an important role in QOL outcomes in patients with advanced cancer.
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Communication about end-of-life issues is difficult across language barriers. Little is known about the experience of health care interpreters in these discussions. ⋯ The majority of interpreters have experience with end-of-life discussions but, independent of interpreter training and experience, only half report that these discussions usually go well. Interpreters want and may benefit from targeted educational interventions that could improve the quality of care for vulnerable patients and families in these difficult situations. Health systems and interpreter certification programs should incorporate specific training on how to interpret discussion about end-of-life issues.
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We present a case of severe refractory constipation in an adolescent oncology patient with widely metastatic clear cell osteosarcoma who was ultimately found to have Ogilvie syndrome, also known as acute colonic pseudo-obstruction (ACPO). Ogilvie syndrome is characterized by dilatation of the large intestine in the absence of mechanical obstruction, usually occurring in adult patients with serious underlying medical conditions and rarely seen in children. It is likely that chronic narcotic use, abdominal metastasis, and a paraneoplastic process contributed to development of ACPO in this patient. ⋯ This case highlights an infrequent, but important, gastrointestinal complication that can occur in pediatric patients with serious comorbid disease. Ogilvie syndrome should be included on the differential diagnosis list in pediatric patients with refractory constipation. Our case illustrates the progression of therapies, including surgical intervention that can be undertaken to treat this disorder in children and adults while providing important considerations for clinicians treating patients of any age with this unusual clinical complication.