Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0011206 (delirium)
 5,996 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Nursing homes have taken on more and more the character of a hospice where palliative competence has significantly become more important. The aim of palliative treatment is not to heal but to control the symptoms during the final stage. The treatment of pain is definitely the main priority. Diagnosing and estimating the severity of the pain are basic requirements of an effective analgesic treatment. In addition to the pain, there are other symptoms such as nausea and emesis, dyspnoea, death rattle,fear, delirium and obstipation in the final stages of a disease which should be controlled very carefully. Not only patients suffering from cancer, but also very sick multimorbide patients and those suffering from dementia in geriatric environments will profit from palliative care.
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PMID:[Control of symptoms during the final stage of the patient's life]. 1816 35

The majority of Americans die in hospitals where shortcomings in end-of-life care are endemic. Patients often die alone, in pain, their wishes unheeded by physicians. Hospitalists can improve end-of-life care in hospitals dramatically. Hospitalists must relieve symptoms, such as pain, dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, delirium, and depression; communicate clearly; and provide support to patients and families. Hospitalists can increase the number and the timeliness of hospice referrals, allowing more patients to die at home. Finally, physicians must attend to their own sense of grief and loss to avoid burnout and to continue to reap the rewards end-of-life care provides.
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PMID:End-of-life care for the hospitalized patient. 1829 83

We report four cases of encephalopathy admitted with fever, hypercyanosis, breathlessness, deep coma and convulsions considered of interest because these children had cyanotic heart diseases and concomitant cerebral malaria. Their presenting clinical features, which suggested cerebral malaria (decreased level of consciousness ranging in severity from drowsiness and severe headache to confusion, delirium and even deep coma) may equally characterise hypercyanotic episodes among children with uncorrected cyanotic cardiac defects. We also inferred that children with cyanotic cardiac defects may be prone to cerebral malaria and that those residing in the tropics may benefit from anti-malarial prophylaxis.
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PMID:Cerebral malaria in children with cyanotic heart diseases: the need for a closer look. 1837 54

Palliative sedation is undergoing extensive debate. The aims of this study were to describe the practice of palliative sedation at a specialized acute palliative care unit and to study whether patients who received palliative sedation differed from patients who did not. We performed a systematic retrospective analysis of the medical and nursing records of all 157 cancer patients who died at the acute palliative care unit between 2001 and 2005. Palliative sedation, defined as continuous deep sedation prior to death, was used for 43% of all deceased patients. In 87% of the sedated patients, it was started in the last two days before death. Sedated and nonsedated patients did not differ in survival after admission (eight days vs. seven days, P=0.12). Sedated patients were younger (55 years vs. 59 years, P=0.04) and more often had malignancies of the digestive tract (P<0.01). In both groups, common symptoms at admission were pain (79% vs. 87%, P=0.23), constipation, (40% vs. 48%, P=0.46), and dyspnea (32% vs. 29%, P=0.77). On the day that palliative sedation was started, sedated patients more often suffered from dyspnea and delirium than nonsedated patients at a comparable day before death. The most important indications for palliative sedation were terminal restlessness (60%) and dyspnea (46%). We conclude that at the studied acute palliative care unit, patients who ultimately received palliative sedation did not have symptoms different than nonsedated patients at admission, but on the day at which the sedation was started, they suffered more often from delirium and dyspnea.
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PMID:Palliative sedation in a specialized unit for acute palliative care in a cancer hospital: comparing patients dying with and without palliative sedation. 1841 Oct 17

We used a high-flow nasal cannula with a patient who required a high fraction of inspired oxygen but could not tolerate a nasal or facial mask. We saw a 92-year-old woman with delirium and dementia in the intensive care unit for multi-lobar pneumonia with severe hypoxemia. Attempts to oxygenate the patient failed because she was unable to tolerate various facial and nasal masks. We then tried a high-flow nasal cannula (Vapotherm 2000i), which she tolerated well, and she had marked improvement in gas exchange and quality of life. The patient had severe health-care-associated pneumonia, accompanied by delirium and hypoxemia. It became apparent that the patient's death was imminent, and the goal of therapy was palliative. She had previously clearly expressed a desire not to undergo intubation and mechanical ventilation. In a situation where the patient was agitated and unable to tolerate a mask, the high-flow cannula reduced her agitation and improved her dyspnea, oxygenation, tolerance of oxygen therapy, and comfort at the end of life. Oxygen via high-flow cannula may enhance quality of life by reducing hypoxemia in patients who are unable to tolerate a mask but need a high oxygen concentration.
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PMID:Use of a high-flow oxygen delivery system in a critically ill patient with dementia. 1902 11

Terminally ill cancer patients near the end of life may experience intolerable suffering refractory to palliative treatment. Although sedation is considered to be an effective treatment when aggressive efforts fail to provide relief in terminally ill patients, it remains controversial. The aim of this study was to assess the need and effectiveness of sedation in dying patients with intractable symptoms, and the thoughts of relatives regarding sedation. A prospective cohort study was performed on a consecutive sample of dying patients admitted to an acute pain relief and palliative care unit within a cancer center. Indications for sedation, opioid and midazolam doses, level of delirium and sedation, nutrition, hydration, rattle, inability to cough and swallow, pharyngeal aspiration, duration of sedation and survival, and use of anticholinergics or other drugs were recorded. Family members were interviewed. Forty-two of 77 dying patients were sedated, and had a longer survival than those who were not sedated (P=0.003). Prevalent indications for sedation were dyspnea and/or delirium. Twelve patients began with an intermediate sedation, and 38 patients started with definitive sedation. The median sedation duration was 22 hours. Opioid doses did not change during sedation. Agitated delirium significantly decreased with increasing doses of midazolam, whereas the capacity to communicate concomitantly decreased. Interviewed relatives were actively involved in the process of end-of-life care, and the decision to sedate, and the efficacy of sedation, were considered appropriate by almost all relatives. Controlled sedation is successful in dying patients with untreatable symptoms, did not hasten death, and yielded satisfactory results for relatives. This study also points to the importance of palliative care and the experience of professionals skilled in both symptom control and end-of-life care.
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PMID:Controlled sedation for refractory symptoms in dying patients. 1904 Dec 16

As death approaches, a gradual shift in emphasis from curative and life prolonging therapies toward palliative therapies can relieve significant medical burdens and maintain a patient's dignity and comfort. Pain and dyspnea are treated based on severity, with stepped interventions, primarily opioids. Common adverse effects of opioids, such as constipation, must be treated proactively; other adverse effects, such as nausea and mental status changes, usually dissipate with time. Parenteral methylnaltrexone can be considered for intractable cases of opioid bowel dysfunction. Tumor-related bowel obstruction can be managed with corticosteroids and octreotide. Therapy for nausea and vomiting should be targeted to the underlying cause; low-dose haloperidol is often effective. Delirium should be prevented with normalization of environment or managed medically. Excessive respiratory secretions can be treated with reassurance and, if necessary, drying of secretions to prevent the phenomenon called the "death rattle." There is always something more that can be done for comfort, no matter how dire a situation appears to be. Good management of physical symptoms allows patients and loved ones the space to work out unfinished emotional, psychological, and spiritual issues, and, thereby, the opportunity to find affirmation at life's end.
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PMID:Pharmacologic pearls for end-of-life care. 2014 91

It is important to identify prognostic and predictive factors concerning both life expectancy and quality of life in palliative care patients to facilitate ethical, clinical, and organizational decisions, but also to use resources in the best possible way. The authors reviewed the literature to identify the major factors that can predict survival of patients with solid tumors. They found only a few prospective assessments of prognostic factors. Clinical prognostic/predictors of survival based on physician's and/or nurse's judgment, performance status, dyspnea at rest, anorexia, dysphagia, or delirium are all considered to be of primary importance. Despite several contrasting findings, it is generally agreed that the type and site of the primary tumor and metastasis, psychosocial factors, and quality of life should be considered secondary to the organic effects in the final stages of life. Leukocytosis, lymphocytopenia, and elevated C-reactive protein are all reported to have prognostic significance, and low serum albumin and high lactate dehydrogenase levels must also be taken into consideration. Cancer 2009;115(13 suppl):3128-34. (c) 2009 American Cancer Society.
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PMID:Predictive models in palliative care. 1954 41

Patients with evolutive and terminal desease often present 4 to 5 annoying symptoms, linked to the desease and implying a rigorous assessment as well as a treatment of the cause whenever possible. When all etiologic treatments have been used, the symptomatic treatments often allow to relieve the patient. This demands allying care and medication as well as mastering the available therapeutics so as to adapt the prescriptions at best. The present work essentially approaches the etiologies and symptomatic treatments of nausea and vomiting, hiccup, constipation, bowel obstruction, dyspnoea, congestion and death rattle and neuropsychic disfunctionning, in particular anxiety, depression and delirium. For the situations where the oral, transdermic and intravenous routes become difficult or impossible, medication to be administrated through subcutaneous routes are listed, with prudence, for not regulated.
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PMID:[Symptomatic treatments (pain management excluded) for adults in palliative care]. 1964 34

Palliation of symptoms to optimize QOL is the foundation of cancer care regardless of stage of disease or level of anticancer treatment. Patients commonly experience pain, constipation, nausea, vomiting, dyspnea, fatigue, and delirium. Many valid clinical tools are available to the primary care clinician to screen for symptoms, assess severity, measure treatment response, and elicit the patient's subjective symptom experience. Although there is limited evidence regarding the relative efficacy of symptom interventions from randomized controlled trials, clinical practice guidelines are available.
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PMID:Palliative care for the cancer patient. 1991 86


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