J Pain Symptom Manage. 2015 Aug 21. pii: S0885-3924(15)00412-1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2015.07.014. [Epub ahead of print]
Baumann AJ, Wheeler DS, James M, et al
The effect of early multidisciplinary palliative care on symptom control (using a modified liver-specific Edmonton Symptom Assessment System) and mood (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) in patients with end-stage liver disease eligible for liver transplantation was evaluated. 79 patients were referred for liver transplant evaluation, 50 (63%) were eligible, completed the transplant evaluation and had early palliative care input. Of these 29 patients (58%) completed follow-up assessments within six months. Following early palliative care, half of the patients with moderate-to-severe symptoms improved, and 43% had improvement in depressive symptoms (with patients reporting worse symptoms improving the most). This study suggests that there is a possible role for early multidisciplinary palliative care in patients awaiting liver transplantation.
Shortcuts are compiled by Jason Boland