Palliative medicine in the surgical intensive care unit and trauma

The purpose of palliative medicine is to prevent and relieve suffering and to help patients and their families set informed goals of care and treatment. Palliative medicine can be provided along with life-prolonging treatment or as the main focus of treatment. Increasingly, palliative medicine has a role in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) and trauma. Data show involving palliative medicine in the SICU results in decreased length of stay, improved communication with families and patients, and earlier setting of goals of care, without increasing mortality. The use of triggers for palliative medicine consultation improves patient-centered care in the SICU.     

Palliative care in the surgical ICU

Palliative care for the critically ill has become an increasingly important component of care in the SICU. As the population ages, medical technology continues to offer new treatments that can prolong life, and more and more Americans die in the hospital in critical care settings, the appropriate management of the end-of-life must be part of the clinical expertise of surgeons and intensivists. Part of this expertise must include the components of palliative care (eg, pain and symptom management, psychosocial support, communication skills, shared decision-making) and specialized areas of withdrawal and withholding of life support. Integrating palliative care expertise into the SICU is not straightforward; understanding when and how to make the transition from curative to palliative care can be fraught with uncertainty regarding prognosis and patient preferences.Attention to the principles of good pain management, communication with patient and family, and discussion of goals of care are not just for patients who are at the end-of-life, but are appropriate care for all critically ill patients, regardless of prognosis. In this framework, "intensive care"encompasses palliative and curative care.     

Care of the family in the surgical intensive care unit

In the surgical intensive care unit (SICU), the stress of having a critically ill loved one creates significant bereavement and emotional needs for family members. Surgical palliative care has expanded; clinicians do not just treat the patient, but now include the family within the scope of care. Understanding and treating complicated grief, and the emotional and educational needs of the family improves family outcome, improves the surrogate family's ability to act as decision makers, and ultimately may positively affect patient survivor outcome. Care of families in the SICU requires interdisciplinary teams and palliative care processes to appropriately address their needs.     

Care of the family in the surgical intensive care unit

In the surgical intensive care unit (SICU), the stress of having a critically ill loved one creates significant bereavement and emotional needs for family members. Surgical palliative care has expanded; clinicians do not just treat the patient, but now include the family within the scope of care. Understanding and treating complicated grief, and the emotional and educational needs of the family improves family outcome, improves the surrogate family's ability to act as decision makers, and ultimately may positively affect patient survivor outcome. Care of families in the SICU requires interdisciplinary teams and palliative care processes to appropriately address their needs.     

Palliative medicine and inpatient palliative care unit--functions, organisation forms and significance of surgery

About 160 palliative care units with 1228 beds or 15 beds?/?1 million inhabitants were available in German hospitals in the year 2008. Demand analyses consider 35 beds?/?1 million inhabitants as necessary. Whether the additional demand could be reduced by a greater use of home- and hospice-based end-of-life care is discussed. For general hospitals the establishment of an acute palliative care unit within a medical (oncology) ward is recommended due to costs, organisation facilities and attitudes of physicians toward referral. The establishment of an acute palliative care unit may be costly for the hospital, nevertheless, outpatient palliative medicine and hospices are a cost-effective health service from a socioeconomic point of view, avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions and freeing up hospital beds by early discharge. An analysis of consultants demonstrates a minor interest of surgeons in specialisation in palliative medicine. However, data suggest that prior experience in palliative care alters the selection of treatment recommendations by surgeons with respect to more supportive or aggressive interventions in patients with advanced cancer. Ethical decision-making regarding therapy and counselling of patients at the end of life and discussing the prognosis with patients and their families require education in palliative medicine. A core curriculum to teach palliative care for surgical residents therefore has been presented.     

Palliative Care for Movement Disorders

Purpose of review

While care for patients with movement disorders has traditionally focused on motor symptoms, there is increasing evidence that optimal care for these disorders is more complex both in terms of the spectrum of symptoms experienced by patients (e.g., pain, depression) and the multidimensional needs of patients and their families. Palliative care is an approach to the care of patients and families affected by serious illnesses that seeks to relieve suffering by addressing complex medical symptoms, psychosocial issues, spiritual well-being, and goals of care. While traditionally associated with cancer and hospice, more recent work in palliative care has focused on integrating a palliative care approach from the time of diagnosis for patients with chronic illnesses, including movement disorders.

Recent findings

Studies of patients with movement disorders and their family caregivers suggest that these patients have significant unmet needs under current models of care, including underrecognition and treatment of non-motor symptoms, inadequate psychosocial support, and suboptimal end-of-life care. We describe how a palliative care approach can empower clinicians, patients, and families to reduce common sources of suffering and optimize quality of life. This field recognizes the importance of primary palliative care (palliative skills useful for any clinician caring for persons caring for serious illness) as a foundation of the palliative care approach and complementary to specialist palliative care. In this article, we will focus on primary palliative care skills for movement disorder specialists including providing a diagnosis and prognosis with compassion, discussing goals of care, complex symptom management, caregiver support, spiritual and emotional well-being, and referral to hospice and specialist palliative care.

Summary

A palliative care approach complements other efforts in movement disorder care. Research is needed to evaluate and develop therapeutic interventions and models of care applying a palliative care approach.

     

Involvement of an anaesthetic department in terminal therapy

The goal of hospital treatment in terminal therapy must be a functional integration of all modes of care including psychosocial support. Anaesthesiologists who practise pain management and critical care medicine are predestined to care for terminally ill patients and their families. An anaesthetic department can assume superordinate responsibilities within the organization of a palliative network coordinating inpatient and outpatient arrangements.     

Palliative and shared care concepts in patients with advanced colorectal cancer

Approximately 50% of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) will eventually die of metastatic disease. Effective palliative management can be used within a shared care model in CRC to provide optimum symptom control, psychological well-being and maintenance of quality of life for patients, their families and carers, including bereavement support. Maintenance of realistic hope and early goal setting are equally important in end-of-life discussions with patients and families. Palliative care should be incorporated early in the course of the illness, concurrent with disease-modifying therapies. Within shared care, the palliative medicine specialist, surgeon and other members of the multidisciplinary team can each bring their own expertise to provide a patient-centred approach. A case is presented that incorporates some of these principles and exemplifies the benefits of contemporary palliative care for patients with advanced CRC.     

Nutrition in Renal Supportive Care: Patient‐driven and flexible

Renal Supportive Care is an alternative treatment pathway in advanced chronic kidney disease that is being increasingly adopted, particularly in the elderly. Renal Supportive Care uses principles of palliative care and has been developed to enhance the care for dialysis patients with a high symptom burden and those being managed on a non‐dialysis pathway. Nutrition management is often an under‐recognized component of care and can play an important role in improving patients' quality of life to reduce symptom burden, support physical function and independence and provide appropriate counselling to patients and their families to ensure the goals of Renal Supportive Care are met. Nutrition interventions need to target patient and treatment goals, with frequent monitoring to ensure patient needs are being met. This review outlines available literature on this topic and suggests some practical ways in which nutrition can be enhanced for these patients.     

Palliativpatienten und Patienten am Lebensende in Notfallsituationen

Background

At the end of life acute exacerbations of medical symptoms (e.g. dyspnea) in palliative care patients often result in emergency medical services being alerted. The goals of this study were to discuss cooperation between emergency medical and palliative care structures to optimize the quality of care in emergencies involving palliative care patients.

Methods

For data collection an open discussion of the main topics by experts in palliative and emergency medical care was employed. Main outcome measures and recommendations included responses regarding current practices related to expert opinions and international literature sources.

Results

As the essential points of consensus the following recommendations for optimization of care were named: (1) integration of palliative care in the emergency medicine curricula for pre-hospital emergency physicians and paramedics, (2) development of outpatient palliative care, (3) integration of palliative care teams into emergency medical structures, (4) cooperation between palliative and emergency medical care, (5) integration of crisis intervention into outpatient palliative emergency medical care, (6) provision of emergency plans and emergency medical boxes, (7) provision of palliative crisis cards and do not attempt resuscitation (DNAR) orders, (8) psychosocial aspects concerning palliative emergencies and (9) definition of palliative patients and their special situation by the physician responsible for prior treatment.

Conclusions

Prehospital emergency physicians are confronted with emergencies in palliative care patients every day. In the treatment of these emergencies there are potentially serious conflicts due to the different therapeutic concepts of palliative medical care and emergency medical services. This study demonstrates that there is a need for regulated criteria for the therapy of palliative patients and patients at the end of life in emergency situations. Overall, more clinical investigations concerning end-of-life care and unresponsive palliative care patients in emergency medical situations are necessary.     

State of the art 2007

The beginning of the modern hospice movement and palliative medicine relates to the recognition of the fact that a cure-oriented health care system often neglects the critically ill and the dying in terms of appropriate treatment and human care. Therefore, the idea was born to offer comprehensive medical, nursing, psychological, social and spiritual care for these patients and their families at a suitable location . This first location was St Christopher's Hospice in London; the starting point of a still ongoing humanly and ethically demanded development.     

Palliative care and end-of-life issues

As stated, the goal of palliative care is the achievement of the best quality of life for patients and their families. It incorporates many aspects of care: providing physical comfort, psychosocial and spiritual support, and providing various services in order to achieve this goal. The skills described should be a priority in the practice of all types of medicine because the goal of palliative care is among the central tenets of the medical profession.     

重症急性胰腺炎早期器官损害的特征及防治

目的:回顾性分析2007—2009年我院外科重症监护病房(SICU)收治的病历资料完整的58例重症急性胰腺炎(SAP)并发多器官功能障碍综合征(MODS)病例,总结早期器官功能损害的病变规律及防治经验。方法:所有SAP病人均在我院SICU接受多学科协作中西医结合综合治疗,患者入科后即给予相关监测,按其MODS标准诊断程序,记录入科后不同的时间段(1、3、7、10和14d)里各器官功能障碍的发生情况,统计SAP早期各器官功能障碍的发生率。结果:本组58例中,胃肠道普遍受累(100%),消化道外累及器官损害发生率从高到低顺序为:肺、心、代谢、肾、循环、肝、凝血、脑。严重并发症急性呼吸窘迫综合征20例(34.48%),休克13例(22.41%),肝功损害11例(18.97%),消化道出血10例(17.24%),肾衰竭6例(15.51%),凝血功能异常6例(10.34%),胰腺脑病5例(8.62%),发生时间无明显差异,全组病例14d内死亡8例,病死率13.79%,与死亡密切相关的危险因素为急性呼吸窘迫综合征、急性肾衰竭和休克。结论:重症急性胰腺炎早期MODS器官损害的特征为肺、心、代谢、肾、循环最常受累,其中与死亡密切相关的危险因素为急性呼吸窘迫综合征、急性肾衰竭和休克,中西医结合防治SAP所致多器官功能衰竭疗效显著。     

Palliative care: misconceptions that limit access for patients with chronic renal disease

There is an urgent need to incorporate palliative care into the treatment of patients with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD). These patients have a shortened lifespan and face end‐of‐life decisions as renal function declines and renal replacement therapy becomes necessary. They also experience a high symptom burden as a result of the illness as well as its treatment. Why, then, do patients with ESRD rarely receive expert palliative care services that have been shown to enhance the quality of life of patients with other life‐limiting illnesses? The lack of access to palliative care can be attributed, in part, to misconceptions about its philosophy and goals. It is hoped that clarification of these misconceptions will facilitate integration of palliative care into routine nephrology practice.     

基于神经语言程序技术的终末期癌症患者心愿清单干预

目的提高终末期癌症患者死亡质量。方法成立舒缓疗护小组,对5例终末期癌症患者基于神经语言程序学方法深入了解其未了心愿,制定和实施心愿清单。结果对5例患者访谈4～6次,历经28～336 d,均达成预期目标;3例在医院、2例如愿回到家中安然离世。结论对终末期癌症患者,计划和实施基于神经语言程序学方式的心愿清单,有利于促进患者家庭和谐,帮助患者尊严、无憾离世,从而提高死亡质量。     

Wireless clinical alerts and patient outcomes in the surgical intensive care unit

Errors in medicine have gained public interest since the Institute of Medicine published its 1999 report on this subject. Although errors of commission are frequently cited, errors of omission can be equally serious. A computerized surgical intensive care unit (SICU) information system when coupled to an event-driven alerting engine has the potential to reduce errors of omission for critical intensive care unit events. Automated alerts and patient outcomes were prospectively collected for all patients admitted to a tertiary-care SICU for a 2-year period. During the study period 3,973 patients were admitted to the SICU and received 13,608 days of care. A total of 15,066 alert pages were sent including alerts for physiologic condition (6,163), laboratory data (4,951), blood gas (3,774), drug allergy (130), and toxic drug levels (48). Admission Simplified Acute Physiology Score and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, SICU lengths of stay, and overall mortality rates were significantly higher in patients who triggered the alerting system. Patients triggering the alert paging system were 49.4 times more likely to die in the SICU compared with patients who did not generate an alert. Even after transfer to floor care the patients who triggered the alerting system were 5.7 times more likely to die in the hospital. An alert page identifies patients who will stay in the SICU longer and have a significantly higher chance of death compared with patients who do not trigger the alerting system.     

Robotic telepresence: a helpful adjunct that is viewed favorably by critically ill surgical patients

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to assess how surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients and their families would perceive robotic telepresence. We hypothesized that they would view such technology positively.MethodsThis research was an Institutional Review Board–approved prospective observational study. Our robotic telepresence program augmented the SICU multidisciplinary team rounding process. We anonymously surveyed patients and their families on their perceptions. Those who interacted at least once with the robot served as our participant base.ResultsTwenty-four patients and 26 family members completed the survey. Ninety-two percent of respondents were comfortable with the robot, and 84% believed communication was “easy.” Ninety percent did not perceive the robot as “annoying” and 92% did not believe that “the doctor cared less about them” because of the robot. Ninety-two percent of respondents supported the continued use of the robot.ConclusionsRobotic telepresence was viewed positively by patients and their families in the SICU. Furthermore, they believed the robot was beneficial to their care and indicated their support for its continued use.     

Notärztliche Betreuung von Tumorpatienten in der finalen Krankheitsphase

Background

Presently and even more in the near future more cancer patients will be treated at home especially in the final stage of their disease. For this reason the prehospital emergency system will be confronted with the specific needs of these patients. Palliative care is not part of the German model of post-graduate training regulations for emergency medicine and palliative care teams (PCT) are only involved in the treatment of cancer patients in emergency situations.

Methods

Over a 12-month period we retrospectively analysed all emergency cases that had been categorised as final cancer stage at 2 emergency sites (one air-based, the other ground-based) involving physicians in an out-of-hospital setting. We analysed all cases for indications of emergency call, prehospital treatment and involvement of a PCT in the treatment of symptoms.

Results

For this period we analysed 2,765 emergency documents and identified more than 2.5% as emergency calls by cancer patients or their relatives (the majority of patients had been in the final stage of the disease). Most emergency calls occurred at times when no general practitioner was on duty and acute dyspnoea (42.7%) was the prominent diagnosis. After emergency treatment 61.8% patients had been admitted to hospital. In most settings a PCT was not involved in the treatment of palliative care patients or their relatives (92.7%).

Conclusions

Our data demonstrate that care of cancer patients in the final stage of the disease is relevant in emergency medicine. These patients are in need of help based on principles of palliative care. Under these circumstances cooperation of the medical disciplines (emergency and palliative medicine) concerned seems to be necessary. This may increase the possibility for patients to stay at home for the last days of their life. Because of this we are convinced that basic knowledge of palliative care should be integrated into the German model of post-graduate training regulations for emergency care. Combining parts of the curricula (palliative and emergency medicine) it would be possible for emergency physicians to guide their treatment by the ideas and strategies of palliative care. But we are also convinced that the system of PCT should increase and become more involved in prehospital care in emergency cases of palliative care patients.     

Inpatient palliative care consultation: enhancing quality of care for surgical patients by collaboration

Hospital-based surgeons will likely encounter palliative care service colleagues more frequently, given the growth of approved fellowships and hospital palliative care programs. Surgeons may consult with palliative care colleagues to help patients and families manage pain and other symptoms, cope with the distress of acute and chronic illness, manage complex decisions at end-of-life, and negotiate through a critical illness (or combinations thereof). Inpatient palliative care consultation has been shown to improve quality of care, including quality of life and satisfaction of patients, families, and referring clinicians.     

The evolving and important role of anesthesiology in palliative care

A small but clinically significant proportion of dying patients experience severe physically or psychologically distressing symptoms that are refractory to the usual first-line therapies. Anesthesiologists, currently poorly represented in the rapidly evolving specialties of hospice and palliative medicine, are uniquely qualified to contribute to the comprehensive care of patients who are in this category. Anesthesiologists' interpersonal capabilities in the management of patients and families under duress, their knowledge and comfort level with the application of potent analgesic and consciousness-altering pharmacology, and their titrating and monitoring skills would add a valuable dimension to palliative care teams. This article summarizes the state of the art and means by which anesthesiologists might contribute to improvements in the important end-of-life outcome of safe and comfortable dying.