Rev Pneumol Clin
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Dyspnea is a subjective symptom defined as an experience of uncomfortable and difficult breathing which strongly affects the quality of life. It is the most common symptom in lung cancer but its physiopathology remains unclear. Dyspnea is due to cancer itself, specific therapies or comorbidities. ⋯ Diagnosis of underlying cause, based on rational and non invasive strategy is needed to perform effective treatment if possible. Despite its frequency, few therapies are really effective, except nonpharmacologic measures: only morphine can be actually recommend, especially with naive patients. In palliative cases, if dyspnea is uncontrolled, benzodiazepine can be used and may represent ethic approach.
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The occurrence of pain during the course of bronchial carcinoma is nearly inescapable and often constitutes the main symptom for patients and those close to them. While pain control is held to be a priority of care in cancerology in the future, this goal is not always reached due to insufficient implementation of recommendations, however widely accessible. Our aim is to present the different aspects of pain treatment through the details of both pharmacological and nonpharmacological means.
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Although the teaching of communication techniques have begun, albeit slowly, in the schools of medicine, the announcement of bad news remains one of the hardest moment in medical practice. For the physician, whose primary mission is to bring relief, knowing that he may cause psychological distress is a difficult task, especially when considering that the limited therapeutic choices make it impossible for him to promise hope for recovery. ⋯ The data enable improvement of the recommendations issued from more fundamental knowledge relative to the transmission of information and the main emotional and adaptive reactions of the patient. Thus, the announcement can be better adapted to each patient, his expectations and his abilities.