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Monteiro AC, França de Santana T, Morais M, Santos C, Aurélio J, Santos I, Cruz S, Vázquez D, Ferreira Arroja S, Mariz J. Home Ultrasound: A Contemporary and Valuable Tool for Palliative Medicine. Cureus 2024; 16:e55573. [PMID: 38576627 PMCID: PMC10994179 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.55573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
This narrative review explores the application of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in palliative care and its feasibility in home care settings. POCUS has the potential to streamline diagnostic strategies without patient transfer to the hospital, expedite timely symptomatic relief, and reduce complications from specific palliative interventions. The advent of handheld ultrasound devices has made it an attractive diagnostic and interventional adjunct in acute palliative care. POCUS has gained widespread acceptance as part of routine care in emergency medicine and intensive care, guiding certain procedures and increasing their safety. The modernization and miniaturization of ultrasound equipment have made ultra-portable devices available, allowing for better-quality images at affordable prices. Handheld devices have the potential to revolutionize everyday clinical practice in home-based palliative care, contributing to important bedside clinical decisions. Palliative care patients often require diagnostic examinations in the last months of their lives, with CT being the most frequently performed imaging procedure. However, CT imaging is associated with high costs and burdens, leading to increased suffering and impaired quality of life. Clinical ultrasound, a dialogic imaging modality, offers a safer and more efficient approach to palliative care. POCUS applications, which are cost-effective, non-invasive, and well-tolerated, can be used to improve patient satisfaction and diagnostic understanding. POCUS is a valuable tool in palliative care, improving diagnostic accuracy and reducing the time to diagnosis for various pathologies. It is a standard of care for many procedures and improves patient safety. However, there are limitations to POCUS in palliative care, such as operator-dependent examination variability and limited availability of trained professionals. To overcome these limitations, palliative care physicians should receive mandatory training in POCUS, which can be incorporated into the core curriculum. Additionally, ultrasound teleconsulting can assist less experienced examiners in real-time examinations. The literature on POCUS in palliative care is limited, but research on patient-oriented outcomes is crucial. POCUS should be considered a supplement to good clinical reasoning and regulated radiological evaluations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mariana Morais
- Internal Medicine Department, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Central - Hospital São José, Lisboa, PRT
| | - Catarina Santos
- Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Garcia de Orta, Almada, PRT
| | - João Aurélio
- Internal Medicine Department, Centro Hospitalar do Algarve - Unidade Hospitalar de Portimão, Portimão, PRT
| | - Inês Santos
- Internal Medicine Department, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Ocidental - Hospital Egas Moniz, Lisboa, PRT
| | - Sofia Cruz
- Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Vila Franca de Xira, Vila Franca de Xira, PRT
| | | | | | - José Mariz
- Emergency Department, Hospital de Braga, Braga, PRT
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, PRT
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Lyon AR, López-Fernández T, Couch LS, Asteggiano R, Aznar MC, Bergler-Klein J, Boriani G, Cardinale D, Cordoba R, Cosyns B, Cutter DJ, de Azambuja E, de Boer RA, Dent SF, Farmakis D, Gevaert SA, Gorog DA, Herrmann J, Lenihan D, Moslehi J, Moura B, Salinger SS, Stephens R, Suter TM, Szmit S, Tamargo J, Thavendiranathan P, Tocchetti CG, van der Meer P, van der Pal HJH. 2022 ESC Guidelines on cardio-oncology developed in collaboration with the European Hematology Association (EHA), the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) and the International Cardio-Oncology Society (IC-OS). Eur Heart J 2022; 43:4229-4361. [PMID: 36017568 DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehac244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 704] [Impact Index Per Article: 352.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
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Lo H, Eder N, Boten D, Jenssen C, Nuernberg D. Handheld Ultrasound (HHUS): Potential for Home Palliative Care. Ultrasound Int Open 2022; 8:E68-E76. [PMID: 36937375 PMCID: PMC10023243 DOI: 10.1055/a-1999-7834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/24/2022] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Due to the severity of their disease, palliative care patients often present complex clinical symptoms and complaints like pain, shortness of breath, nausea, loss of appetite, and fatigue. Solely relying on the information available from the history and physical examination often causes uncertainty among palliative care physicians regarding treatment decisions during home visits, potentially leading to unnecessary hospitalizations or transfer to cross-sectional imaging in radiological practices. A rational approach is essential to avoid diagnostic aggressiveness while still providing the imaging information required for optimal palliative care. Bedside use of handheld ultrasound (HHUS) has the potential to expand the diagnostic and therapeutic spectrum in the case of symptom exacerbation but is still underutilized. In this review, we evaluate the potential uses of HHUS in home care settings to provide a more accurate diagnosis of the most common symptoms in palliative patients and to guide bedside interventions such as bladder catheterization, thoracentesis, paracentesis, venous access, and regional anesthesia. Specific training programs for ultrasound in palliative care are currently not available. Adequate documentation is warranted but fraught with technological and privacy issues. Expert supervision and quality assurance are necessary. Despite its limitation and challenges, we suggest that HHUS leads to improved clinical decision-making, expedited symptom relief, and reduced complications without burdening of the patient and costly transfer to hospital or specialty consultations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hendra Lo
- Brandenburg Medical University Theodor Fontane, Institute for Clinical
Ultrasound (BICUS) and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Neuruppin,
Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine – Gastroenterology, Diabetology
and Hepatology, Vivantes Hospital Neukölln, Berlin,
Germany
- Correspondence Mr. Hendra Lo Brandenburg
Medical University Theodor Fontane, Institute for Clinical Ultrasound
(BICUS) and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Fehrbelliner
Straße 3816816NeuruppinGermany+ 49
3391 3914710
,
| | - Nicole Eder
- Brandenburg Medical University Theodor Fontane, Institute for Clinical
Ultrasound (BICUS) and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Neuruppin,
Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine, Krankenhaus Märkisch Oderland,
Strausberg, Germany
| | - David Boten
- Brandenburg Medical University Theodor Fontane, Institute for Clinical
Ultrasound (BICUS) and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Neuruppin,
Germany
| | - Christian Jenssen
- Brandenburg Medical University Theodor Fontane, Institute for Clinical
Ultrasound (BICUS) and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Neuruppin,
Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine, Krankenhaus Märkisch Oderland,
Strausberg, Germany
| | - Dieter Nuernberg
- Brandenburg Medical University Theodor Fontane, Institute for Clinical
Ultrasound (BICUS) and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Neuruppin,
Germany
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Lyon AR, López-Fernández T, Couch LS, Asteggiano R, Aznar MC, Bergler-Klein J, Boriani G, Cardinale D, Cordoba R, Cosyns B, Cutter DJ, de Azambuja E, de Boer RA, Dent SF, Farmakis D, Gevaert SA, Gorog DA, Herrmann J, Lenihan D, Moslehi J, Moura B, Salinger SS, Stephens R, Suter TM, Szmit S, Tamargo J, Thavendiranathan P, Tocchetti CG, van der Meer P, van der Pal HJH. 2022 ESC Guidelines on cardio-oncology developed in collaboration with the European Hematology Association (EHA), the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) and the International Cardio-Oncology Society (IC-OS). Eur Heart J Cardiovasc Imaging 2022; 23:e333-e465. [PMID: 36017575 DOI: 10.1093/ehjci/jeac106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 46.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
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Risk Prediction and New Prophylaxis Strategies for Thromboembolism in Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2021; 13:cancers13071556. [PMID: 33805252 PMCID: PMC8037773 DOI: 10.3390/cancers13071556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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