ABSTRACT
Las personas con enfermedades oncológicas avanzadas padecen procesos clínicos intercurrentes y otras manifestaciones relacionadas con la propia progresión tumoral que generan un gran impacto en su calidad de vida. Los profesionales que trabajan en este campo necesitan incorporar nuevos conocimientos y herramientas de diagnóstico y tratamiento que faciliten el manejo de estas personas, de complejidad tan elevada, de la forma menos invasiva posible1. La ecografía clínica (EC) es una de esas herramientas cuyo desarrollo ha sido excepcional en las últimas décadas. Los avances tecnológicos han permitido disponer de equipos de bolsillo cada vez más sofisticados, asequibles económicamente y que pueden ser utilizados allí donde se encuentre la persona enferma como una extensión de la exploración física2. De esta manera el profesional puede dar respuesta a diferentes situaciones o entidades sindrómicas en las que la rentabilidad de la EC puede ser elevada. La pretensión es evitar, en la medida de lo posible, el traslado del paciente al hospital o a una ubicación intrahospitalaria, lo que redunda en su confort y calidad de vida, además de empoderar al profesional en la toma de decisiones clínicas. (AU)
People with advanced cancer suffer from intercurrent clinical conditions and other tumor progression-related manifestations that can have a great impact on their quality of life. Professionals working in this field need to incorporate new knowledge, as well as diagnostic and treatment tools to facilitate the management of these highly complex patients in the least invasive way possible1. Clinical ultrasound (CU) is one of those tools whose development has been exceptional in recent decades. Technological advances have made it possible to have increasingly sophisticated and affordable pocket equipments available, which can be used wherever the patient is as an extension of physical examination2. In this way, a professional can respond to different situations or syndromic conditions in which CU yield may be high. The aim is to avoid, whenever possible, the transfer of patients to in-hospital facilities, which can result in loss of both comfort and quality of life. In addition, an appropriate use of CU can empower the team charged with making clinical decisions. (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Ultrasonography , Palliative Care , Palliative Medicine , Home Nursing , Cancer Care FacilitiesABSTRACT
La ecografía clínica se emplea cada vez por más profesionales sanitarios de diversas disciplinas asistenciales. En cuidados paliativos existen iniciativas que han puesto de manifiesto la utilidad de sus múltiples aplicaciones, permitiendo ofrecer respuestas a cuestiones diversas, tanto en el hospital como en el domicilio. No debe suponer una perturbación del confort del paciente contribuyendo a evitar la percepción por parte de pacientes y familiares de abandono tecnológico en las fases más avanzadas de la enfermedad. El avance tecnológico de estos dispositivos permite disponer de opciones que aúnan precio, portabilidad, sencillez de manejo y calidad de imagen suficiente para satisfacer los requisitos para su empleo en las necesidades asistenciales más habituales en cuidados paliativos. La curva de aprendizaje en su manejo es relativamente rápida, esperando que esta serie de publicaciones con material teórico-práctico en la revista Medicina Paliativa contribuyan a establecer una base de conocimiento para los profesionales interesados en este tema, pudiendo continuarse más adelante con un sistema para una adecuada acreditación de competencias. (AU)
Clinical ultrasound is being increasingly used by health professionals from various healthcare disciplines. In Palliative Care some initiatives have revealed the usefulness of its multiple applications, allowing to answer various questions both in the hospital and at home. It should not imply a disturbance of patient wellbeing, and helps avoid the perception, both by patients and relatives, of technological abandonment in the most advanced phases of disease. The technological advance of these devices allows having options that combine price, portability, ease of use, and sufficient image quality to satisfy the requirements of use in the most common care settings in Palliative Care. The learning curve in its operation is relatively fast, and we hope that this series of publications with theoretical-practical material in the Palliative Medicine journal will contribute to establishing a knowledge base for professionals interested in this topic, which might be later expanded by providing a system for adequate accreditation of competencies. (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Ultrasonography/methods , Palliative Care , Palliative Medicine , Knowledge Bases , Technological DevelopmentABSTRACT
Combined with a physical examination, clinical ultrasound offers a valuable complement that can help guide clinical decision-making. In various medical and surgical specialties, it is increasingly used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Due to recent technological advances, smaller and more affordable ultrasound machines are now being developed for use in home hospice care. The purpose of this paper is to describe how clinical ultrasound may be applied in Palliative Care, where it can be a valuable tool to assist the clinician in making better clinical decisions and to assist in accurately guiding palliative procedures. Furthermore, it can be used to identify unnecessary hospitalizations and prevent them from occurring. Training programs with specific objectives are necessary to implement clinical ultrasound in Palliative Care, as well as defining learning curves and promoting alliances with scientific societies that recognize the teaching, care and research trajectory for accreditation of competencies.
