[Clinical effectiveness of anti-cholinergic agents for respiratory impediment in the home palliative care setting].
Dyspnea is one of the most common problems we encounter in the palliative care setting of patients with life-threatening illness including malignancy. Dyspnea is considered especially a troublesome symptom in the management of in-home hospice care services. We examined effects of anti-cholinergic agents against such symptoms associated with dyspnea in patients with serious illness treated at home. The effectiveness was observed in 51% of patients who were given anti-cholinergic drugs. According to the outcome of this study, anti-cholinergic drugs may be effective for alleviating the suffering of terminally-ill patients due to dyspnea. Further investigation would be expected to clarify the usefulness of anti-cholinergic agents in the field of palliative care.
Endo
Mitsuhiro
M
Aozora Clinic, Shinmatsudo.
Toya
Takeshi
T
Matsumoto
Tsutomu
T
Maeda
Hirotoshi
H
Wada
Tadashi
T
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018678:Cholinergic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D017051:Hospice Care; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care
D018678:Cholinergic Agents