Palliative care: An update for internists.

All clinicians should maintain basic skills in general palliative care to help address the needs of patients and families. Because keeping up with the information provided by the growing palliative care literature can be challenging, we conducted a detailed search via Medline for palliative care articles published in 2020 in top peer-reviewed medical journals. Using a consensus-driven process of selection, we reviewed and summarized 11 articles to enhance knowledge of the practice-changing palliative care literature for general internists.

Promoting Primary Palliative Care in Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Symptom Management and Preparedness Planning.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) poses challenges not only in symptom management but also in prognostication. Managing COPD requires clinicians to be proficient in the primary palliative care skills of symptom management and communication focused on eliciting goals and preferences. Dyspnea should initially be managed with the combination of long-acting muscarinic antagonists and long-acting β-agonist inhalers, adding inhaled corticosteroids if symptoms persist.

Update in Hospital Palliative Care: Symptom Management, Communication, Caregiver Outcomes, and Moral Distress.

Background: Updated knowledge of the palliative care (PC) literature is needed to maintain competency and best address the PC needs of hospitalized patients. We critiqued the recent PC literature with the highest potential to impact hospital practice.

Methods: We reviewed articles published between January 2016 and December 2016, which were identified through a handsearch of leading journals and a MEDLINE search.

To stent or not to stent: an evidence-based approach to palliative procedures at the end of life.

Patients near the end of life often undergo invasive procedures, such as biliary stenting for obstructive jaundice, with the intent of relieving symptoms. We describe a case in which the medical team and a patient and family are considering a second palliative biliary stent despite the patient's limited life expectancy. We review available evidence to inform the decision, focusing on the specific question of whether the benefits of palliative biliary stents in patients with advanced cancer outweigh the risks.

Update in palliative care--2011.

Introduction: The aim of this update is to summarize scientifically rigorous articles published in 2010 that serve to advance the field of palliative medicine and have an impact on clinical practice.

Method: We conducted two separate literature searches for articles published between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010. We reviewed title pages from the Annals of Internal Medicine, British Medical Journal, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, JAMA, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JGIM, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Journal of Palliative Medicine, Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, PC-FACS (Fast Article Critical Summaries for Clinicians in Palliative Care).

Qualitative analysis of Medicare claims in the last 3 years of life: a pilot study.

Objectives: To study end-of-life care of a representative sample of older people using qualitative interpretation of administrative claims by clinicians and to explore whether this method yields insights into patient care, including continuity, errors, and cause of death.

Design: Random, stratified sampling of decedents and all their Medicare-covered healthcare claims in the 3 years before death from a 5% sample of elderly fee-for-service beneficiaries, condensation of all claims into a chronological clinical summary, and abstraction by two independent clinicians using a standardized form.

Setting: United States.