Advance care and resuscitation plans in a tertiary hospital: a multimodal approach.

Objectives: Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of documenting a person's preference for medical treatment in the event of future deterioration. This audit aimed to improve discussion and documentation of ACP in patients who die during a hospital admission.

Methods: We performed a clinical audit in 2021 of inpatients at a tertiary hospital in Sydney, Australia to evaluate the benefit of multimodal interventions to improve ACP compared with previous audits from 2016 and 2011.

Lidocaine for Neuropathic Cancer Pain (LiCPain): study protocol for a mixed-methods pilot study.

Introduction: Many patients experience unrelieved neuropathic cancer-related pain. Most current analgesic therapies have psychoactive side effects, lack efficacy data for this indication and have potential medication-related harms. The local anaesthetic lidocaine (lignocaine) has the potential to help manage neuropathic cancer-related pain when administered as an extended, continuous subcutaneous infusion.

Preparedness to Face the COVID-19 Pandemic in Hospice and Palliative Care Services in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Rapid Online Survey.

Background: Hospice and palliative care services provision for COVID-19 patients is crucial to improve their life quality. There is limited evidence on COVID-19 preparedness of such services in the Asia-Pacific region.

Aim: To evaluate the preparedness and capacity of hospice and palliative care services in the Asia-Pacific region to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oxycodone/naloxone prolonged-release tablets in patients with moderate-to-severe, chronic cancer pain: Challenges in the context of hepatic impairment.

Opioids such as oxycodone are recommended in the management of moderate-to-severe, chronic cancer pain. All opioids can potentially cause constipation, which may be a significant barrier to their use. Multiple randomised clinical trials have shown that the use of naloxone as a peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist, in combination with oxycodone can prevent or reduce opioid-induced constipation while having equivalent analgesic efficacy to oxycodone alone.

Palliative care teams in the intensive care unit: a randomised, controlled, feasibility study.

Objectives: To determine whether palliative care teams can improve patient, family and staff satisfaction for patients receiving end-of-life care in the intensive care unit and reduce surrogate markers of health care costs.

Design: Randomised controlled, feasibility study.

Setting: 14-bed general ICU over 29 months in 2006-2008.

Randomized controlled trial of a prompt list to help advanced cancer patients and their caregivers to ask questions about prognosis and end-of-life care.

Purpose: To determine whether provision of a question prompt list (QPL) influences advanced cancer patients'/caregivers' questions and discussion of topics relevant to end-of-life care during consultations with a palliative care (PC) physician.

Patients And Methods: This randomized controlled trial included patients randomly assigned to standard consultation or provision of QPL before consultation, with endorsement of the QPL by the physician during the consultation. Consecutive eligible patients with advanced cancer referred to 15 PC physicians from nine Australian PC services were invited to participate.

Palliative and shared care concepts in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Approximately 50% of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) will eventually die of metastatic disease. Effective palliative management can be used within a shared care model in CRC to provide optimum symptom control, psychological well-being and maintenance of quality of life for patients, their families and carers, including bereavement support. Maintenance of realistic hope and early goal setting are equally important in end-of-life discussions with patients and families.

The interface between palliative medicine and specialists in acute-care hospitals: boundaries, bridges and challenges.

Palliative care teams have made an important contribution to improving the care of patients with incurable illnesses in Australian hospitals over the past 20 years. Co-location of hospital-based palliative medicine specialists with other specialties allows communication and exchange of ideas on issues relevant to the medical care of such patients. Shared management of complex cases maximises comprehension of patient distress and optimises the support provided during hospitalisation.