title: [Using the subcutaneous approach for symptoms control in a health center].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the use of the subcutaneous tract for symptoms control in patients those are in phase of palliative treatment of their illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Primary care.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients seen in a health center, in phase of palliative treatment of their illness, that needed for symptoms control the subcutaneous administration of drugs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the patients were in terminal phase (19), the fundamental cause (17 cases) that justified the use of the subcutaneous tract was the difficulty to take drugs by oral tract in the last days of life, attention on death throes. The infusion continuous through injector type travenol, at an infusion speed of 2 ml/h, it was the most common way of drug administration (19 patients). The drugs and initial average dose most used were: morphine 19 patients dose 100 mg/24 h, hyoscine butylbromide (Buscapina), 13 patients, 60 mg/24 h, haloperidol 12 patients, 4 mg/24 h. The patients death was the main cause that justified the retirement of the continuous infusion (17 people sick), happening in its own home. Symptoms control was good or very good in the most of patients (14).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The experience on using the subcutaneous tract for symptoms control in our health center is positive, being the fundamental cause for its use symptoms control in the last days of the patients life. The continuous subcutaneous infusion should be used in primary attention, as an usual technique for the symptoms control in patients that are in phase of palliative treatment of their illness.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Salud de Manises (Valencia). lpascual@filnet.es
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pascual López
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Portaceli Armiñana
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ros Sáez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*