Palliative Care Flashcards
(169 cards)
______ applies not only to incurable malignant
disease and HIV/AIDS but also to several other
diseases, such as end-stage organ failure (heart
failure, kidney failure, respiratory failure and hepatic
failure) and degenerative neuromuscular diseases.
Palliative care
The GP is the ideal person to manage palliative care
for a variety of reasons—
1.
2
3
availability, knowledge of
the patient and family, and the relevant psychosocial
influences
_____________ is the best policy when discussing
the answers to these questions with the patient
and family.
Caring honesty
Patients must not be made to feel isolated or be
victims of the so-called _______in
which families collude with doctors to withhold
information from the patient
‘conspiracy of silence’
The worst feeling a dying patient can sense is one
of rejection and discomfort on the part of the
______
doctor.
The Gold Standards Framework (UK)
This framework, which provides an optimal model for
palliative care by the primary care team, focuses on
seven key tasks:
1 optimal quality of care 2 advanced planning (including out of hours) 3 teamwork 4 symptom control 5 patient support 6 carer support 7 staff support
_______ is the commonest, most feared, but generally
the most treatable symptom in advanced cancer
Pain
The
principles of relief of cancer pain are:
1 Treat the cancer.
2 Raise the pain threshold:
3 _______, for
example, opioids (if necessary).
Add analgesics according to level of pain
The
principles of relief of cancer pain are:
4 _______—not all pain
responds to analgesics (refer TABLE 11.2 ).
5 Set realistic goals.
6 Organise supervision of pain control.
Use specific drugs for specific pain
The right drug, in the right dose, given at the
right time relieves _______ of the pain. Reports of
the undertreatment of cancer pain persist.
80–90%
The World Health Organization (WHO) analgesic
ladder is an appropriate guide for the management of
cancer pain:
Step 1: Mild pain
Start with basic non-opioid analgesics:
1.
2.
aspirin 600–900 mg (o) 4 hourly (preferred)
or
paracetamol 1 g (o) 4 hourly ± NSAID
Use low dose or weak opioids (according to age
and condition) or in combination with non-opioid
analgesics (consider NSAIDs. What kind of pain?
Step 2: Moderate pain
Options for moderate pain
add ________ 5 to 10 mg (o) 4 hourly (2.5 mg
in elderly)
increase in increments of 30–50% up to
15–20 mg
or
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 2.5 mg (in elderly) up to 10 mg (o) 4 hourly or CR 10 mg (o) 12 hourly or oxycodone 30 mg,\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ 8 hourly
morphine
oxycodone
rectally,
Step 3: Severe pain
Maintain non-opioid analgesics. Larger doses of
opioids should be used and _______ is the drug of
choice
morphine
How to give Morphine in severe pain:
morphine 10–15 mg (o) 4 hourly, increasing to
________ if necessary
or
morphine CR/SR tabs or caps _______
30 mg
(o) 12 hourly or
once daily
Usual starting dose for morphine CR
The usual starting dose is 20–30 mg bd
To convert to morphine CR/SR, calculate the
daily oral dose of regular morphine and divide by
_______
2 to get the 12 hourly dose
How to give Morphine:
Starting doses are usually in the range of
_____
5–20 mg (average 10 mg)
How to give Morphine:
If analgesia is inadequate, the next dose should
be increased by ______until pain control is
achieved
50%
How to give Morphine:
____ is a problem, so treat
prophylactically with regular laxatives and
carefully monitor bowel function.
Constipation
How to give Morphine:
Order a ________ for
breakthrough pain or anticipated pain (e.g. going
to toilet
‘rescue dose’ (usually 5–10 mg)
How to give Morphine:
Order antiemetics ______
(e.g. haloperidol prn at first;
usually can discontinue in 1–2 weeks as tolerance
develops).
Using morphine as a mixture with other
substances _________has no
particular advantage
(e.g. Brompton’s cocktail)
How to give Morphine:
______ is not recommended (short half-life,
toxic metabolites) and codeine and IM morphine
should be avoided
Pethidine