We have located links that may give you full text access.
End-of-Life Treatments in Pediatric Patients at a Government Tertiary Cancer Center in India.
Journal of Palliative Medicine 2018 July
AIM: The primary objective of this study was to describe demographics and end-of-life treatments of children with cancer at a government tertiary cancer center in India.
METHODS: A retrospective review was undertaken of medical charts of all children younger than 18 years, who died as inpatients while undergoing treatment at the pediatric oncology department between April and September 2016. Data were collected on demographics, diagnosis, treatments, survival, palliative care involvement, and symptoms at end of life.
RESULTS: There were 44 pediatric oncology patients who died in the hospital during the study period. The most frequent diagnoses were hematological malignancies (n = 29). Tumor-specific treatment was given to 38/44 (86%) patients in the last 30 days of life, and 13 patients in the last day of life or 1 day before. Of all deaths, 23/44 (52%) occurred within 30 days of admission to the pediatric ward and 34/44 (77%) within 90 days. Of the 44 patients, 25 (57%) were referred to palliative care. The median number of days between referral and death was 14 (0-78) days. Frequent symptoms documented were bleeding (11/44), dyspnea (10/44), pain (7/44), seizures (7/44), and delirium (5/44), with each patient having one or more of these symptoms. Only patients with a palliative care referral received opioid analgesics or benzodiazepines at the end of life.
CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the demographics of suffering, death, and end-of-life care in children with cancer at a government tertiary cancer center in India.
METHODS: A retrospective review was undertaken of medical charts of all children younger than 18 years, who died as inpatients while undergoing treatment at the pediatric oncology department between April and September 2016. Data were collected on demographics, diagnosis, treatments, survival, palliative care involvement, and symptoms at end of life.
RESULTS: There were 44 pediatric oncology patients who died in the hospital during the study period. The most frequent diagnoses were hematological malignancies (n = 29). Tumor-specific treatment was given to 38/44 (86%) patients in the last 30 days of life, and 13 patients in the last day of life or 1 day before. Of all deaths, 23/44 (52%) occurred within 30 days of admission to the pediatric ward and 34/44 (77%) within 90 days. Of the 44 patients, 25 (57%) were referred to palliative care. The median number of days between referral and death was 14 (0-78) days. Frequent symptoms documented were bleeding (11/44), dyspnea (10/44), pain (7/44), seizures (7/44), and delirium (5/44), with each patient having one or more of these symptoms. Only patients with a palliative care referral received opioid analgesics or benzodiazepines at the end of life.
CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the demographics of suffering, death, and end-of-life care in children with cancer at a government tertiary cancer center in India.
Full text links
Related Resources
Trending Papers
Interstitial Lung Disease: A Review.JAMA 2024 April 23
Review article: Recent advances in ascites and acute kidney injury management in cirrhosis.Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics 2024 March 26
Executive Summary: State-of-the-Art Review: Unintended Consequences: Risk of Opportunistic Infections Associated with Long-term Glucocorticoid Therapies in Adults.Clinical Infectious Diseases 2024 April 11
Clinical practice guidelines on the management of status epilepticus in adults: A systematic review.Epilepsia 2024 April 13
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.
By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
Your Privacy Choices
You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app