Articles: palliative-care.
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BMC palliative care · Jun 2020
Supportive and palliative care indicators tool (SPICT™): content validity, feasibility and pre-test of the Italian version.
Difficulties in identifying patients at risk of clinical deterioration or death represent one of the main barriers to Palliative Care (PC) development in the community. Currently, no specific Italian tools aimed at identifying patients with PC needs are available. Of the different European tools available, the SPICT™ can be used easily in any kind of setting and does not include the Surprise Question. The purpose of the study was to translate, cross-culturally adapt and pre-test the Italian version of the SPICT™. ⋯ The SPICT-IT™ demonstrated acceptable content validity. The percentage of patients identified through the SPICT-IT™ was comparable to findings from literature. The next phase of this project will investigate the impact of a proactive training programme aimed at supporting GPs in identifying patients with PC needs and delivering appropriate Primary Palliative Care (PPC).
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Jun 2020
Nebulized Fentanyl for Dyspnea: A Retrospective Chart Review.
Nebulized fentanyl is well established for analgesia but its use for dyspnea requires further investigation. The aim of our study was to determine the effectiveness of nebulized fentanyl in treating patients with dyspnea and to determine if there were harmful side effects described by patients or their providers. We used a convenience sample of patients from July 1 2014 to July 1 2018 and performed a retrospective chart review. ⋯ Also, 71% of patients with documented responses experienced an improvement in their dyspnea. Our preliminary data suggest that nebulized fentanyl has limited side effects and may have a role in the treatment of dyspnea. Further research is necessary to determine its efficacy.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of aromatherapy massage on quality of sleep in the palliative care ward: a randomized controlled trial.
There is little evidence of the effectiveness of aromatherapy massage in palliative care despite its popularity. ⋯ A single aromatherapy massage session is no more effective than not having a massage in improving sleep quality in palliative care settings. However, older patients and those in poor health conditions may benefit from aromatherapy massage.
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Opioids are effective analgesics for acute and palliative pain, but there is no evidence base for long-term pain relief. They also carry considerable risks such as overdose and dependence. Despite this, they are increasingly prescribed for chronic pain. In the UK, opioid prescribing more than doubled between 1998 and 2018. ⋯ Opioid prescribing guidelines are not followed. The significant issues are: long-term prescriptions for chronic pain, especially back pain; new patients registering with repeat prescriptions; and no outcomes of treatment agreed, a crucial message is the goal is pain management rather than relief. Changes have been introduced at the practice: a patient information sheet, compulsory 1-month review for new patients on opioids, and in-surgery pain referrals.