Surgical Palliative Care

Palliative care has become increasingly important across the spectrum of healthcare, and with it, the need for education and training of a broad range of medical practitioners not previously associated with this field of care. Part of the Integrating Palliative Care series, this volume on surgical palliative care guides readers through the core palliative skills and knowledge needed to deliver high value care for patients with life-limiting, critical, and terminal illness under surgical care. Chapters explore the historical, philosophical, and spiritual principles of surgical palliative care, and follow the progression of the seriously ill surgical patient's journey from the pre-operative encounter, to the invasive procedure, to the post-operative setting, and on to survivorship. An overview of the future of surgical palliative care education and research rounds out the text. Surgical Palliative Care is an ideal resource for surgeons, surgical nurses, intensivists, and other practitioners who wish to learn more about integrating palliative care into the surgical field.

This issue of Surgical Clinics of North America focuses on Practicing Primary Palliative Care and is edited by Dr. Pringl Miller. Articles will include: Advantages of a Multidisciplinary Team Approach to Surgical Care; Concurrent Palliative Care has Clinical Outcome Benefits; Goals of Care Discussions - Understanding the Outcomes that Matter Most; Prognostic Tools and Shared Decision Making; Peri-Operative Advance Directives - DNR in the OR; Optimizing Pain Control During the Opioid Epidemic; Wound and Stoma Care - Less is More; Image-Guided Palliative Interventions; Palliative Care and the Pregnant Surgical Patient; Tracheostomies, PEGs, and Hemodialysis Vascular Access - When Are They Really Indicated?; Post-Operative Recovery & Survivorship after Acute Hospitalization for Serious Life Limiting Illness; Spiritual Dimensions of Surgical Palliative Care; Transitioning to Comfort-Focused Care at the End-of-Life; Mitigating Burnout; Surgical Palliative Care Education; and more!

This issue of Anesthesiology Clinics brings the reader up to date on the most important advances in surgical palliative care for anesthesiology intensivists. Topics covered include recent trends and developments, palliative care of patients on high doses of narcotics, trauma in the surgical ICU, care of family in the surgical ICU, communication skills in palliative surgery, surgical palliative care in Haiti, and much more.

Palliative surgery can greatly contribute to improving symptom control and quality of life for terminal cancer patients. Owing to the advanced stage of the disease, however, this type of surgery is also associated with significant morbidity and mortality. It is therefore important for surgeons to have a sound understanding of the medical and scientific background underlying treatment decisions in palliative surgery, a foundation that this book provides. The opening chapters examine the relationship between palliative medicine and palliative surgery and address general issues including pain management and anesthesiological considerations. The role of palliative surgery in a wide range of disease settings is then thoroughly explored, including detailed information on surgical techniques and their indications and outcomes. This book will be an invaluable resource for all who wish to learn more about the emerging role of palliative surgery.

Guest Editor Geoff Dunn presents a comprehensive look at surgical palliative care. Topics will include In-Patient Palliative Care Consultation and Surgery, Palliative Care in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Surgical Intensive Care and Bereavement, Palliative Surgical Oncology, The Palliative Surgery Discussion, Palliative Interventional Radiology, Palliative Care and Pediatric Surgery, Palliative Urology, Spiritual Dimensions of Surgical Palliative Care, Surgeons and Introspection, and much more!

This issue of Anesthesiology Clinics brings the reader up to date on the most important advances in surgical palliative care for anesthesiology intensivists. Topics covered include recent trends and developments, palliative care of patients on high doses of narcotics, trauma in the surgical ICU, care of family in the surgical ICU, communication skills in palliative surgery, surgical palliative care in Haiti, and much more.

The current medical literature contains ample text addressing the topics of trauma and critical care. However, there are few texts existing that specifically address the common surgical problems encountered by practicing acute care surgeons. Common Problems in Acute Care Surgery provides a comprehensive, evidence-based review of the most common clinical problems encountered by acute care surgeons. Focusing on the clinical care of the patient, this volume explores the general principles of acute care surgery and the specific disease states that are commonly encountered by acute care surgeons. The work also touches upon the ethical issues and systems development behind acute care surgery, including practical considerations for establishing an acute care surgery program, ethical considerations in acute care surgery, and the role of palliative care. Authored by respected experts in the field and illustrated throughout with detailed photographs, Common Problems in Acute Care Surgery is of great value to resident surgeons in training, fellows, and practicing surgeons in acute care surgery.

This open access book aims to provide a comprehensive but practical overview of the knowledge required for the assessment and management of the older adult with or at risk of fragility fracture. It considers this from the perspectives of all of the settings in which this group of patients receive nursing care. Globally, a fragility fracture is estimated to occur every 3 seconds. This amounts to 25 000 fractures per day or 9 million per year. The financial costs are reported to be: 32 billion EUR per year in Europe and 20 billon USD in the United States. As the population of China ages, the cost of hip fracture care there is likely to reach 1.25 billion USD by 2020 and 265 billion by 2050 (International Osteoporosis Foundation 2016). Consequently, the need for nursing for patients with fragility fracture across the world is immense. Fragility fracture is one of the foremost challenges for health care providers, and the impact of each one of those expected 9 million hip fractures is significant pain, disability, reduced quality of life, loss of independence and decreased life expectancy. There is a need for coordinated, multi-disciplinary models of care for secondary fracture prevention based on the increasing evidence that such models make a difference. There is also a need to promote and facilitate high quality, evidence-based effective care to those who suffer a fragility fracture with a focus on the best outcomes for recovery, rehabilitation and secondary prevention of further fracture. The care community has to understand better the experience of fragility fracture from the perspective of the patient so that direct improvements in care can be based on the perspectives of the users. This book supports these needs by providing a comprehensive approach to nursing practice in fragility fracture care.