Effect of a palliative home care team on hospital admissions among patients with advanced cancer.

This was a quasi-experimental study designed to determine whether, in patients with advanced cancer, a palliative home care team (PHCT) modified hospital utilization in the last six months before death. Of 2503 cancer deaths in the municipality of Genoa, Italy, in 1991, 189 (7.5%) received care from a PHCT.

Psychological and symptom distress in terminal cancer patients with met and unmet needs.

This study identified the needs of terminal cancer patients, investigated the factors associated with unmet needs, and assessed psychological and symptom distress associated with unsolved needs. Ninety-four patients were randomly selected from 324 patients admitted for palliative care in 13 Italian centers. Two self-administered questionnaires (the Symptom Distress Scale and the Psychological Distress Inventory) were administered to all the patients.

[Computerized tomography-guided neurolytic block of the splanchnic nerve].

CT-guided neurolytic splanchnic nerve block is a technique for relieving abdominal cancer pain; the goal is the alcoholic neurolytic interruption of the sensitive structures in retroperitoneal space. CT yields accurate anatomical detailing and the course for needle placement and alcohol spread. January, 1993, to July, 1996, twenty-one bilateral splanchnic nerve blocks were performed through the posterior access.

[CT-guided celiac ganglion block. The authors' own experience].

Celiac plexus neurolysis is considered an effective technique for relieving abdominal cancer pain. CT yields accurate anatomical detailing, thus allowing the indirect location of the celiac plexus and the planning of needle trajectory and positioning. September 1992 to December 1993, twenty-eight celiac plexus neurolyses for pain relief were performed in 26 patients (13 men and 13 women), 17 through the anterior and 11 through the posterior access.