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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2016; 37(03): 202-205
DOI: 10.4103/0971-5851.190360
CASE REPORT

Early integration of palliative medicine into emergency care: Is it a feasible option

Shrikant Atreya
Department of Palliative Care and Psycho-Oncology, Tata Medical Center, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
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Abstract

Patients with advanced malignancy often experience symptoms of disease and treatment that contribute to distress and diminish their quality of life. Most of these patients present to the emergency department thus raising its importance in providing such care especially at the end of life situation. An approach that is aimed at controlling these symptoms, whether or not undergoing curative therapy, is a key feature of high-quality patient-centered care. This paper explores the potential role of palliative medicine in the emergency room and how early integration with emergency care can help improve the quality of life of patients and thus achieve better outcomes.

Keywords

Emergency care - palliative medicine - quality of life - symptom control


Publication History

Article published online:
12 July 2021

© 2016. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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