Emergencies in Palliative and Supportive Care

This essential handbook provides a practical, accessible guide to emergency situations encountered in palliative care practice. Using a system of icons, and structured around frequently encountered symptoms, it is split into two sections. The first section explores how patients with life-limiting illnesses such as cancer, AIDS, and end-stage organ failure normally present, and looks at the reversibility of their condition. The second section provides a detailed approach to specific clinical conditions, and is for use once the clinical diagnosis has been reached on the basis of the presenting symptoms. The book will provide trainees in palliative medicine, nurses, family doctors, and other allied health professionals with a pocket guide to the emergency care of people requiring palliative and supportive care, and will complement the Oxford Handbook of Palliative Care. An invaluable aid at the bedside Outlines the essential investigations for diagnosis Advocates a symptom control approach to treatment The clinical responses are tailored to the changes in the patient's illness David Currow , Chair, Department of Palliative and Supportive Services, Flinders University; Director, Southern Adelaide Palliative Services, Daw Park; Director, International Institute of Palliative & Supportive Studies, Adelaide, Australia, and Katherine Clark , Senior Staff Specialist, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown; Clinical Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia CONTENTS Section 1 Frequently encountered symptoms Section 2 1: Clinical pharmacology 2: Dermatological problems 3: Cardiovascular problems 4: Gastro-intestinal disorders 5: Haematological disorders 6: Metabolic disorders 7: Neurology 8: Orthopaedic disorders 9: Mental health 10: Endocrine problems 11: Respiratory problems 12: Genito-urological disorders 13: Appendix 1 14: Appendix 2 15: Appendix 3 16: Appendix 4 17: Appendix 5