Palliative Care in Advanced Liver Disease: Similar or Different Palliative Care Needs in Patients with a Prospect of Transplantation? ProspectiveStudy from a Portuguese University Hospital and Transplantation Center

• Autor(a) principal: Silva,Sara Neves Vieira da
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Baptista,Patricia, Silva,Isabel Fonseca, Freire,Elga, Miranda,Helena Pessegueiro
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Texto Completo: http://scielo.pt/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2341-45452023000300030
• topic: Palliative care; End-stage liver disease; Liver transplantation

Abstract Background and Aims: End-stage liver disease (ESLD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, comparable to a large extent to other organ insufficiencies. The need for palliative care (PC) in patients with ESLD is high. In Portugal, in the only identified study, more than 80% of patients hospitalized with ESLD had criteria for PC. No results specified which needs they identified or their transplantation prospect status. Methods: Prospective observational study including 54 ESLD patients who presented to a university hospital and transplantation center, between November 2019 and September 2020. Assessment of their PC needs through the application of NECPAL CCOMS-ICO© and IPOS, considering their transplantation perspective status. Results: Of the 54 patients, 5 (9.3%) were on active waiting list for transplantation and 8 (14.8%) under evaluation. NECPAL CCOMS-ICO© identified 23 patients (n = 42.6%) that would benefit from PC. Assessment of PC needs by clinicians, functional markers and significant comorbidities were the most frequent criteria (47.8%, n = 11). IPOS also revealed a different sort of needs: on average, each patient identified about 9 needs (8.9 ±2.8). Among the symptoms identified, weakness (77.8%), reduced mobility (70.3%), and pain (48.1%) stood out, as well as the psychoemotional symptoms of depression (66.7%) and anxiety (77.8%). There were no significant differences between the subgroups of patients analyzed. Only 4 patients (7.4%) were followed by the PC team. Conclusion: All the ESLD patients included, independently of the group they belonged to, presented with PC needs. No significant differ-ences between the subgroups of patients were identified, confirming that even patients with a transplantation pros-pect have important needs for PC.