Surgical Palliative Care And Pain Management

This issue of Anesthesiology Clinics brings the reader up to date on the most important advances in surgical palliative care for anesthesiology intensivists. Topics covered include recent trends and developments, palliative care of patients on high doses of narcotics, trauma in the surgical ICU, care of family in the surgical ICU, communication skills in palliative surgery, surgical palliative care in Haiti, and much more.

This issue of Anesthesiology Clinics brings the reader up to date on the most important advances in surgical palliative care for anesthesiology intensivists. Topics covered include recent trends and developments, palliative care of patients on high doses of narcotics, trauma in the surgical ICU, care of family in the surgical ICU, communication skills in palliative surgery, surgical palliative care in Haiti, and much more.

Palliative care has become increasingly important across the spectrum of healthcare, and with it, the need for education and training of a broad range of medical practitioners not previously associated with this field of care. Part of the Integrating Palliative Care series, this volume on surgical palliative care guides readers through the core palliative skills and knowledge needed to deliver high value care for patients with life-limiting, critical, and terminal illness under surgical care. Chapters explore the historical, philosophical, and spiritual principles of surgical palliative care, and follow the progression of the seriously ill surgical patient's journey from the pre-operative encounter, to the invasive procedure, to the post-operative setting, and on to survivorship. An overview of the future of surgical palliative care education and research rounds out the text. Surgical Palliative Care is an ideal resource for surgeons, surgical nurses, intensivists, and other practitioners who wish to learn more about integrating palliative care into the surgical field.

Palliative surgery can greatly contribute to improving symptom control and quality of life for terminal cancer patients. Owing to the advanced stage of the disease, however, this type of surgery is also associated with significant morbidity and mortality. It is therefore important for surgeons to have a sound understanding of the medical and scientific background underlying treatment decisions in palliative surgery, a foundation that this book provides. The opening chapters examine the relationship between palliative medicine and palliative surgery and address general issues including pain management and anesthesiological considerations. The role of palliative surgery in a wide range of disease settings is then thoroughly explored, including detailed information on surgical techniques and their indications and outcomes. This book will be an invaluable resource for all who wish to learn more about the emerging role of palliative surgery.

Surgical Palliative Care describes the principles and practice of surgery in the context of palliative and supportive care. Surgery is often considered too invasive to be useful in palliation and clinicians instinctively turn to radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and other drugs. Surgery, withincreasingly minimal access techniques, may be simpler and less invasive than other treatments and produces excellent palliation. Indeed, most types of surgery are not curative and the aim of this book is to alert all concerned with palliative care to the usefulness and appropriateness of a surgicaloption. The text is divided into two sections; the first dealing with general issues, varying from quality of life measurement to spirituality, and the second illustrating their application in different specialties of surgery ranging from neurosurgery to urology. The book ends with a challenge to surgeonsto change their perspective from curative surgery, in terms of simply cure or failure, to improvement in quality of life and relief of symptoms. Aimed primarily at palliative medicine and pain consultants, this book will also appeal to surgeons who increasingly need to know more about palliativecare.

This issue of Surgical Clinics of North America focuses on Practicing Primary Palliative Care and is edited by Dr. Pringl Miller. Articles will include: Advantages of a Multidisciplinary Team Approach to Surgical Care; Concurrent Palliative Care has Clinical Outcome Benefits; Goals of Care Discussions - Understanding the Outcomes that Matter Most; Prognostic Tools and Shared Decision Making; Peri-Operative Advance Directives - DNR in the OR; Optimizing Pain Control During the Opioid Epidemic; Wound and Stoma Care - Less is More; Image-Guided Palliative Interventions; Palliative Care and the Pregnant Surgical Patient; Tracheostomies, PEGs, and Hemodialysis Vascular Access - When Are They Really Indicated?; Post-Operative Recovery & Survivorship after Acute Hospitalization for Serious Life Limiting Illness; Spiritual Dimensions of Surgical Palliative Care; Transitioning to Comfort-Focused Care at the End-of-Life; Mitigating Burnout; Surgical Palliative Care Education; and more!

This comprehensive book covers the knowledge needed to diagnosis and treat patients with acute and chronic pain. Sections dedicated to patient evaluation, medication management, treating patients with more complex circumstances and interventional management provide clinically-relevant information on an array of topics relevant to both the generalist and specialist. Some sections being organized in a diagnosis based approach help to focus on these topics and serve as a quick reference. A practical and easy-to-use guide, Pain Management and Palliative Care provides a broad foundation on pain assessment and management and is an invaluable daily companion for those managing patients experiencing pain.

This issue of Surgical Oncology Clinics, guest edited by Dr. Bridget N. Fahy, is devoted to Palliative Care in Surgical Oncology. Dr. Fahy has assembled expert authors to review the following topics: Current guidelines for integration of palliative care in oncology; Management of malignant bowel obstruction; Management of peritoneal carcinomatosis & malignant ascites; Artificial nutrition in patients with advanced malignancy; Selecting patients for palliative procedures in oncology; Palliative radiotherapy: Indications and outcomes; Ethical considerations for caring for patients with advanced cancer; Evaluation and management of malignant biliary obstruction; Systemic anti-cancer treatments for advanced cancer patients: What a surgical oncologist needs to know; Role of palliative medicine training in surgical oncology; Navigating difficult conversations: Breaking bad news and exploring goals of care in surgical patients; Strategies for optimizing perioperative pain management for the cancer patient; and more!

This comprehensive revision of the invaluable reference presents a rigorous survey of pain and palliative care phenomena across the lifespan and across disciplines. Grounded in the biopsychosocial viewpoint of its predecessor, it offers up-to-date understanding of assessments and interventions for pain, the communication of pain, common pain conditions and their mechanisms, and research and policy issues. In keeping with the current public attention to painkiller use and misuse, contributors discuss a full range of pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to pain relief and management. And palliative care is given expanded coverage, with chapters on interventive, ethical, and spiritual concerns. · Pain, intercultural communication, and narrative medicine. · Assessment of pain: tools, challenges, and special populations. · Persistent pain in the older adult: practical considerations for evaluation and management. · Acute to chronic pain: transition in the post-surgical patient. · Evidence-based pharmacotherapy of chronic pain. · Complementary and integrative health in chronic pain and palliative care. · The patient’s perspective of chronic pain. · Disparities in pain and pain care. This mix of evolving and emerging topics makes the Second Edition of the Handbook of Pain and Palliative Care a necessity for health practitioners specializing in pain management or palliative care, clinical and health psychologists, public health professionals, and clinicians and administrators in long-term care and hospice.