Preparing youth with cancer for amputation: A systematic review.
Children and adolescents who require limb amputation as part of cancer treatment face many physical and emotional challenges. Preparatory interventions may serve to facilitate positive coping and improve long-term adjustment during pediatric cancer treatment, including decreasing anxiety and postoperative distress. This review aimed to examine and identify the type and degree of psychosocial preparation provided to the child with cancer and family prior to amputation. Electronic databases including Embase, PubMed, and PsycINFO were searched for relevant research articles. Five studies were identified that satisfied inclusion criteria and revealed common themes for preparatory interventions, but results were limited by a lack of empirical approaches and revealed little consensus on pre-operative support prior to amputation. These findings demonstrate that there is a lack of studies to date that have adequately addressed psychosocial preparation prior to amputation for pediatric oncology patients. Future research on preparatory interventions is needed using prospective and quantitative research to establish evidence-based recommendations for interventions to support this vulnerable population.
a Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care , Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center , Boston , MA , USA.
Caitlyn A
CA
Loucas
a Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care , Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center , Boston , MA , USA.|b Harvard Medical School , Harvard University , Boston , MA , USA.
Sarah R
SR
Brand
c Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research , National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health , Bethesda , MD , USA.
Sima Zadeh
SZ
Bedoya
a Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care , Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center , Boston , MA , USA.|b Harvard Medical School , Harvard University , Boston , MA , USA.
Anna C
AC
Muriel
c Pediatric Oncology Branch, Center for Cancer Research , National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health , Bethesda , MD , USA.
Lori
L
Wiener
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000671:Amputation, Surgical / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*
amputation; childhood cancer; pediatric psychology; systematic review