Palliative care in end‐stage liver disease: Time to do better?

Optimal involvement of palliative care (PC) services in the management of patients with decompensated cirrhosis and end‐stage liver disease (ESLD) is limited. This may result from both ignorance and the failure to recognize the spectrum and unpredictability of the underlying liver condition. Palliat...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Liver transplantation 2018-07, Vol.24 (7), p.961-968
Main Authors: Mazzarelli, Chiara, Prentice, Wendy M., Heneghan, Michael A., Belli, Luca S., Agarwal, Kosh, Cannon, Mary D.
Format: Article
Language:eng
Subjects:
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Optimal involvement of palliative care (PC) services in the management of patients with decompensated cirrhosis and end‐stage liver disease (ESLD) is limited. This may result from both ignorance and the failure to recognize the spectrum and unpredictability of the underlying liver condition. Palliative care is a branch of medicine that focuses on quality of life (QoL) by optimizing symptom management and providing psychosocial, spiritual, and practical support for both patients and their caregivers. Historically, palliative care has been underutilized for patients with decompensated liver disease. This review provides an evidence‐based analysis of the benefits of the integration of palliative care into the management of patients with ESLD. Liver Transplantation 24 961–968 2018 AASLD.
ISSN:1527-6465
1527-6473