Search results for " Palliative care"
showing 10 items of 53 documents
Prevalence and characteristics of prisoners requiring end-of-life care: A prospective national survey
2017
Background: Ensuring adequate end-of-life care for prisoners is a critical issue. In France, data investigating the impact of laws allowing release of seriously ill prisoners are lacking. Aim: To assess the number and characteristics of prisoners requiring palliative care in French prisons. Design: A prospective, national survey collecting data over a 3-month period. Setting/participants: All healthcare units ( n = 190) providing care for prisoners in France. The prison population was 66,698 during the study period. Data collection concerned prisoners requiring end-of-life care, that is, with serious, advanced, progressive, or terminal illness and life expectancy <1 year. Results: Estima…
Chronic pain treatment through virtual reality
2017
Chronic pain is a notable issue of public healthcare, causing enormous direct and indirect costs, and a reduction of the quality of life in the affected patients. In this study, we have used Virtual Reality (VR) as a method to reduce stress, anxiety and pain in patients affected by chronic pain. We examined two cohorts of patients: an experimental group and a control group. The patients in the experimental group were administered eight VR sessions, each of those lasted thirty minutes, while the control group had a standard therapy. The results are encouraging: they demonstrate the efficacy of VR treatment and the safety of the method.
Palliative sedation in advanced cancer patients followed at home: A retrospective analysis
2012
Abstract CONTEXT: Data regarding palliative sedation at home in dying patients are lacking. OBJECTIVES: To describe the frequency, indication, and modality of palliative sedation (PS) in patients followed at home. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of home care cancer patients was performed. Patients who received PS before dying were selected and information about epidemiologic characteristics, indications, duration, drugs, and outcomes was collected. RESULTS: Of 370 medical charts of patients who died at home, 49 patients received PS before dying. PS was proposed by the team, relatives, or both in 63.3%, 4.1%, and 32.6% of cases, respectively. Delirium alone or in combination with other sym…
Palliative sedation in patients with advanced cancer followed at home: A systematic review
2011
Abstract Context Patients with advanced cancer who are near the end of life may experience intolerable suffering refractory to targeted palliative therapies. Palliative sedation (PS) is considered to be an effective treatment modality for these refractory symptoms when aggressive efforts fail to provide relief. Objectives The aim of this study was to systematically review articles regarding PS performed at home in patients with intractable symptoms. Methods Literature databases searched included MedLine, PubMed, and EMBASE. The text words and MeSH/EMTREE terms "home care" and "sedation" were used for electronic database searches. Results Six articles met the inclusion criteria for research …
Early palliative care of non‑small cell lung cancer in the context of immunotherapy (Review)
2020
Abstract. The most common cause of mortality due to malig‑ nant neoplasms in the general population around the world is lung cancer. In the last 10 years, there has been an enormous improvement in the treatment of this disease, mainly due to the immunotherapy that activates the immune system to fight cancer. Patients with metastatic non‑small cell lung cancer are a special group of patients requiring not only cancer treatment but also considerable support in the treatment of cancer‑related problems, as well as comorbidities. Early palliative care is important in this area. In addition, there is certain evidence that medicines most commonly administered in palliative care may lower the effic…
Transitions between care settings after enrollment in a palliative care service in Italy: a retrospective analysis.
2013
This study was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data that aimed to map patients’ care transitions following admission to a specialist palliative care service in Italy called Antea Centre. Patients’ data was extracted from the Antea local database from 2007 to 2011. External transitions were defined as a change in the setting of care, with the patient no longer being cared for by Antea staff. Internal transitions were defined as a change in the setting of care, with the care still being provided by Antea staff. A total of 1123 patients out of 5313 admitted to the palliative service (21%) experienced transitions. Patients who experienced no transitions after their admissio…
“Song of Life”: Results of a multicenter randomized trial on the effects of biographical music therapy in palliative care
2021
Background: Awareness for the importance of psychological and spiritual needs in patients with terminal diseases has increased in recent years, but randomized trials on the effects of psychosocial interventions are still rare. Aim: To investigate the efficacy of the “Song of Life” music therapy intervention regarding the emotional and psycho-spiritual dimensions of quality of life. Design: Patients were randomly assigned to either “Song of Life” or a relaxation intervention. “Song of Life” is a novel three-session music therapy intervention working with a biographically meaningful song. Primary outcome was the improvement in psychological quality of life. Secondary outcomes included spiritu…
Spinal metastases: Is stereotactic body radiation therapy supported by evidences?
2016
Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is becoming widely adopted in the treatment of primary and secondary tumors. Spinal bone metastases are frequently discovered in cancer patients, and in the past have been usually treated with a palliative goal. Nevertheless, in some particular clinical settings, such as oligometastatic patients and/or those with a long life expectancy, spinal SBRT could be considered a valid therapeutic option to obtain long-lasting palliation and, when possible, with a curative goal. This review aims to summarize available clinical and dosimetric data of published studies about spinal SBRT.
Pattern and characteristics of patients admitted to a hospice connected with an acute palliative care unit in a comprehensive cancer center
2022
Purpose: Information about inpatient hospice activity is limited. No data exist about the pattern and the characteristics of advanced cancer patients admitted to a hospice connected to an acute supportive/palliative care unit (ASPCU). Methods: Data of hospice admissions were retrieved from the database where all data were prospectively collected. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) and the use of analgesics and adjuvant were recorded at admission (T0), 1 week (T7), 2 weeks (T14), and the day before death (T-end). The use of palliative sedation and its indication, duration, and drugs end doses used were recorded. The number of hospice deaths, discharges, and hospice staying were rec…
Sleep Disturbances in Patients with Advanced Cancer in Different Palliative Care Settings.
2015
Abstract Context Information regarding sleep disturbances in the population with advanced cancer is meager. Objectives To assess the prevalence of sleep disturbances and possible correlations with associated factors in a large number of patients with advanced cancer admitted to different palliative care settings. Methods This was an observational study performed in different settings of palliative care. A consecutive sample of patients with advanced cancer was prospectively assessed for a period of six months. Epidemiological and clinical data, treatments received in the last month, Karnofsky status, Edmonton Symptom Assessment System scores, and concomitant medical treatment were recorded.…