Palliative care Flashcards
What is palliative care?
Competent, compassionate care of patients and their loved ones when cure is no longer possible.
“The World Health Organisation states that palliative care affirms life and regards dying as a normal process; it neither hastens nor postpones death; it provides relief from pain and suffering; it integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of the patient”
Palliative care is useful in symptom control of (5)
Pain
Nausea and vomiting
Constipation
Delirium
Dyspnea
How is pain defined?
As an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage
Types of pain in cancer patients (5)
Visceral
Neuropathic
Bony
Referred
Breakthrough
What is nociceptive pain? (3)
- pain from tissue damage
- can be:
- somatic (metastatic bone pain)
- visceral (liver capsule pain)
What is neuropathic pain? (3)
- pain from nerve damage
- can be:
- central (brain, spinal cord, autonomic)
- peripheral nerves (burning, shooting, sensory changes)
Treatments of pain in cancer patients (3)
- surgery
- radiotherapy
- chemotherapy
Categorical scale for pain (4)
Severe 3
Moderate 2
Mild 1
None 0
Patients can describe their pain in terms of (5)
- location
- aggravating/relieving factors
- intensity/severity
- goals for pain control
- duration and when does it occur
Analgesics from mild to severe (6)
Paracetamol
Codeine
Dihydrocodeine
Tramadol
Morphine
Diamorphine
Other non-opioid analgesics (5)
NSAIDs - ASA, naproxen
Steroids - prednisone, dexamethasone
Chlorpromazine
Tricyclic antidepressants
Carbamezapine, phenytoin, gabapentin
Opioid side effects (4)
Constipation
Nausea and vomiting
Sedation
Dry mouth
