Where there is no morphine: the challenge and hope of palliative care delivery in Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: In Tanzania, a country of 42 million, access to oral morphine is rare. AIM: To demonstrate the effectiveness of palliative care teams in reducing patients' pain and in increasing other positive life qualities in the absence of morphine; and to document the psychological burden experienced by their clinical providers, trained in morphine delivery, as they observed their patients suffering and in extreme pain. SETTING: One hundred and forty-fie cancer patients were included from 13 rural hospitals spread across Tanzania. METHOD: A mixed method study beginning with a retrospective quantitative analysis of cancer patients who were administered the APCA African POS tool four times. Bivariate analyses of the scores at time one and four were compared across the domains. The qualitative arm included an analysis of interviews with six nurses, each with more than fie years' palliative care experience and no access to strong opioids. RESULTS: Patients and their family caregivers identifid statistically signifiant (p < 0.001) improvements in all of the domains. Thematic analysis of nurse interviews described the patient and family benefis from palliative care but also their great distress when 'bad cases' arose who would likely benefi only from oral morphine. CONCLUSION: People living with chronic cancer-related pain who receive palliative care experience profound physical, spiritual and emotional benefis even without oral morphine. These results demonstrate the need for continued advocacy to increase the availability of oral morphine in these settings in addition to palliative care services.

Framework for continuous palliative sedation therapy in Canada.

BACKGROUND: Canada does not have a standardized ethical and practice framework for continuous palliative sedation therapy (CPST). Although a number of institutional and regional guidelines exist, Canadian practice varies. Given the lack of international and national consensus on CPST, the Canadian Society for Palliative Care Physicians (CSPCP) formed a special task force to develop a consensus-based framework for CPST. OBJECTIVE: Through a preliminary review of sedation practices nationally and internationally, it was determined that although considerable consensus was emerging on this topic, there remained both areas of contention and a lack of credible scientific evidence to support a definitive clinical practice guideline. This led to the creation of a framework to help guide policy, practice, and research. METHODS: This framework was developed through the following steps: 1) literature review; 2) identification of issues; 3) preparation of a draft framework; 4) expert consultation and revision; 5) presentation at conferences and further revision; and 6) further revision and national consensus building. RESULTS: A thorough literature review, including gray literature, of sedation therapy at the end of life was conducted from which an initial framework was drafted. This document was reviewed by 30 multidisciplinary experts in Canada and internationally, revised several times, and then submitted to CSPCP members for review. Consensus was high on most parts of the framework. CONCLUSION: The framework for CPST will provide a basis for the development of safe, effective, and ethical use of CPST for patients in palliative care and at the end of life.

End-of-life care for COPD patients.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) receive poor end-of-life (EoL) care, in part because their disease course is not predictable. If the family physician would not be surprised at the patient's death within a year, then EoL issues should be raised for discussion. Embarking on such a discussion has the potential to enhance the patient's quality of life and EoL care, thereby avoiding unnecessary treatments or interventions. An Advance Health Care Directive can be useful. Appropriately-used systemic (not nebulised) opioids are safe and effective for managing dyspnoea. The family physician is in an excellent position to provide comprehensive EoL care for COPD patients.

Palliative sedation therapy in the last weeks of life: a literature review and recommendations for standards.

PURPOSE: Palliative sedation therapy (PST) is a controversial issue. There is a need for internationally accepted definitions and standards. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was performed by an international panel of 29 palliative care experts. Draft papers were written on various topics concerning PST. This paper is a summary of the individual papers, written after two meetings and extensive e-mail discussions. RESULTS: PST is defined as the use of specific sedative medications to relieve intolerable suffering from refractory symptoms by a reduction in patient consciousness, using appropriate drugs carefully titrated to the cessation of symptoms. The initial dose of sedatives should usually be small enough to maintain the patients' ability to communicate periodically. The team looking after the patient should have enough expertise and experience to judge the symptom as refractory. Advice from palliative care specialists is strongly recommended before initiating PST. In the case of continuous and deep PST, the disease should be irreversible and advanced, with death expected within hours to days. Midazolam should be considered first-line choice. The decision whether or not to withhold or withdraw hydration should be discussed separately. Hydration should be offered only if it is considered likely that the benefit will outweigh the harm. PST is distinct from euthanasia because (1) it has the intent to provide symptom relief, (2) it is a proportionate intervention, and (3) the death of the patient is not a criterion for success. PST and its outcome should be carefully monitored and documented. CONCLUSION: When other treatments fail to relieve suffering in the imminently dying patient, PST is a valid palliative care option.

Parental experiences of adult child death from cancer.

BACKGROUND: Although parents experience the death of adult children diagnosed with cancer, most of the literature on adult child death has examined the issues of violent death or suicide. Where death from cancer has been studied, the focus has been mainly on psychological outcomes. Little is known about parents' experiences with this phenomenon. OBJECTIVE: To understand parents' experience of having an adult child die from cancer. DESIGN: Descriptive-exploratory study utilizing semistructured interviews with parents of 10 adult children who had died of cancer. SETTING: Parents who had lost a child to cancer were interviewed in their own home or in the interviewer's office. ANALYSIS: Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Latent content analysis and constant comparison techniques were used to develop coding labels, which were then classified into categories and subcategories. RESULTS: Parents experienced a tension between their strong desire to "parent" their child, and their recognition that their child was an autonomous adult, sometimes with a spouse and family who took precedence over them. Parents of a dying child felt helpless, and sometimes were excluded/unacknowledged by health care professionals. To cope, they reconfigured their parent role using various strategies. After the death of their child further reconfiguring takes place, including preserving memories of the child, and talking about him/her. Continuing family and social relationships influence this stage. CONCLUSION: The conflict of wishing to "parent" a dying adult child while recognizing the child's autonomy creates uncertainty for parents at an already stressful time. Facilitating parent-child communication during the illness is important. After the death of the adult child parents may continue to face difficulty with their perceived role in society (parent and/or bereaved person), and sometimes within their family. Health care professionals should make greater efforts to include the parents of the dying adult in the circle of care. The bereavement experience of these parents is intense and long-lasting. Further research is needed regarding the ways in which health care providers can best assist parents to successfully integrate this profound loss.

Opioids in renal failure and dialysis patients.

This article reviews the literature pertaining to the metabolism of several of the commonly used opioids, and the known activity of their metabolites. The effect of renal failure on the pharmacokinetics of these drugs and metabolites is then reviewed. Finally, the effect of renal dialysis on opioid drugs and metabolites is reviewed. Based on the review, it is recommended that morphine and codeine are avoided in renal failure/dialysis patients; hydromorphone or oxycodone are used with caution and close monitoring; and that methadone and fentanyl/sufentanil appear to be safe to use. Note is made that the "safe" drugs in renal failure are also the least dialyzable.

State of the Art Compendium: Canadian Thoracic Society recommendations for the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common cause of disability and death in Canada. Moreover, morbidity and mortality from COPD continue to rise, and the economic burden is enormous. The main goal of the Canadian Thoracic Society's evidence-based guidelines is to optimize early diagnosis, prevention and management of COPD in Canada. The main message of the guidelines is that COPD is a preventable and treatable disease. Targeted spirometry is strongly recommended to expedite early diagnosis in smokers and former smokers who develop respiratory symptoms, and who are at risk for COPD. Smoking cessation remains the single most effective intervention to reduce the risk of COPD and to slow its progression. Education, especially self-management plans, are key interventions in COPD. Therapy should be escalated on an individual basis in accordance with the increasing severity of symptoms and disability. Long-acting anticholinergics and beta-2-agonist inhalers should be prescribed for patients who remain symptomatic despite short-acting bronchodilator therapy. Inhaled steroids should not be used as first line therapy in COPD, but have a role in preventing exacerbations in patients with more advanced disease who suffer recurrent exacerbations. Acute exacerbations of COPD cause significant morbidity and mortality and should be treated promptly with bronchodilators and a short course of oral steroids; antibiotics should be prescribed for purulent exacerbations. Patients with advanced COPD and respiratory failure require a comprehensive management plan that incorporates structured end-of-life care. Management strategies, consisting of combined modern pharmacotherapy and nonpharmacotherapeutic interventions (eg, pulmonary rehabilitation and exercise training) can effectively improve symptoms, activity levels and quality of life, even in patients with severe COPD.