Articles: palliative-care.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Dec 2020
ReviewUse of cannabis and cannabinoids in palliative care setting.
Cannabis products have been used for various ailments since ancient times. But their use diminished in the medical community due to the legal and social concerns of substance abuse. With evolving evidence of their use in alleviating various symptoms, resurgence of interest in their medicinal use is seen in the past decade. ⋯ A few symptoms in palliative care setting can be difficult to treat in a few patients with the available treatment measures. Anecdotal reports and early clinical data have proved cannabinoids to be a promising pharmacological option in managing this subset of patients. However, absence of robust clinical data in proving that cannabinoids have definitely favorable risk-benefit ratio, precludes the inclusion of cannabinoids in the routine recommendation for palliative symptom management. Before cannabinoids enter the broader market with patient-driven and industry-driven hype, high-quality clinical evidence is emergently needed.
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2020
Palliative care transitions from acute care to community-based care: A qualitative systematic review of the experiences and perspectives of health care providers.
Transitioning from the hospital to community is a vulnerable point in patients' care trajectory, yet little is known about this experience within the context of palliative care. While some studies have examined the patient and caregiver experience, no study to date has synthesized the literature on the healthcare provider's perspective on their role and experience facilitating these transitions. ⋯ This review identified studies from a range of relatively high-income countries that included a diverse sample of healthcare providers. The results indicate that healthcare providers experience multiple complex roles during the transition facilitation process, and future research should examine how to better assist clinicians in supporting these transitions within the context of palliative care provision.
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2020
Complementary therapy in palliative care: A synthesis of qualitative and quantitative systematic reviews.
Interventions delivered in palliative care are complex and their evaluation through qualitative and quantitative research can lead to contrasting results. In a systematic review of trials, the effectiveness results of complementary therapies in palliative care were inconclusive; however, our qualitative synthesis showed participants perceived them to be beneficial. ⋯ By integrating qualitative and quantitative review data, we determined the reasons trials may be inconclusive. This methodological exemplar provides a framework for understanding complexity in outcomes across trials and a direction for future research.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Dec 2020
Effect of Antipsychotics and Non-Pharmacotherapy for the Management of Delirium in People Receiving Palliative Care.
Evidence to support the use of antipsychotic medications for the management of delirium symptoms remains limited. The primary objective of this study was to compare the effect of antipsychotic and non-antipsychotic treatments for delirium symptoms among palliative care inpatients. Secondary outcomes were use of midazolam and overall survival. ⋯ A significantly higher proportion of midazolam use (n = 9, 53% versus n = 2, 4%, p < 0.001) and shorter median survival (13 days versus 26 days, p = 0.03) was observed in the group of patients that received antipsychotics. The use of antipsychotic medications in addition to standard treatments targeting underlying precipitants did not lead to a significant improvement in delirium symptoms and was associated with a greater midazolam use and lower median duration of survival. Individualized treatment of underlying causes still appears to be essential in the management of delirium in patients receiving palliative care.
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Intensive care medicine · Dec 2020
ReviewUse of nasal high flow oxygen during acute respiratory failure.
Nasal high flow (NHF) has gained popularity among intensivists to manage patients with acute respiratory failure. An important literature has accompanied this evolution. In this review, an international panel of experts assessed potential benefits of NHF in different areas of acute respiratory failure management. ⋯ When intubation is required, NHF can be used to pre-oxygenate patients either alone or in combination with non-invasive ventilation (NIV). Similarly, NHF reduces reintubation alone in low-risk patients and in combination with NIV in high-risk patients. NHF may be used in the emergency department in patients who would not be offered intubation and can be better tolerated than NIV.