Articles: palliative-care.
-
The increasing importance of legal and ethical questions in palliative medicine and euthanasia due to the increased technical possibilities for extending life will be considered. In palliative medicine, the choice of the best therapy will be discussed, especially in the case of oncological diseases. Here, consideration of the prospects of success, for example, in chemotherapy, is faced with partly serious side-effects. ⋯ A dispute concerning the new legal regulation of active euthanasia in the Netherlands of February 1993 is also discussed. There, around 2% of all deaths per year result from active termination of life and also cases where persons are not able to consent. This also has enormous consequences for the position of the physician.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
-
Review Case Reports
Complications of biliary stents in obstructive pancreatic malignancies. A case report and review.
Biliary stents have become a common palliative measure in the treatment of unresectable obstructive pancreatic cancer. Survival after endoscopic stenting rivals that of surgical bypass. ⋯ A case report and review of stent-related morbidity is presented. Overall complication rates range from 15 to 34%, often requiring stent replacement and occasionally requiring surgical intervention.