Nausea, vomiting, and retching: complex problems in palliative care.
Patients with advanced cancer commonly experience nausea, vomiting, and/or retching (NVR) as a result of the malignant process and its treatment. Recently, increasing attention is being focused on end-of-life care, which includes relief or reduction of symptoms such as NVR. Pre-chemotherapy preparation and patient education in the palliative care setting are essential to preventing acute and delayed distress from NVR, as well as anticipatory symptoms. Careful assessment of chemotherapy-related symptoms should distinguish between the three phenomena rather than taking a global approach. Strategies for preventing anticipatory nausea, for instance, may differ significantly from those designed to reduce frequency of vomiting. Management of anticancer treatment-related NVR should incorporate both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches, whenever appropriate, with the overall goal of improving and/or maintaining the patient's quality of life.
Rhodes
V A
VA
Sinclair School of Nursing, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
McDaniel
R W
RW
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care; D012737:Sex Factors; D014839:Vomiting / Q000517:prevention & control*
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents