A comprehensive approach to palliative care in neurological pathology

Abstract

Palliative care for neurological patients is an approach to patient care and assistance to their families facing chronic, progressive, life-limiting and disabling conditions. The peculiarity of palliative care in neurology is due to the signifi cant duration of the late stages of many neurological diseases and the distinctive features of some diseases (cognitive disorders, mental disorders, speech disorders, pelvic organ dysfunction, paresis, convulsions, contracture development, etc.), as well as the presence of concomitant common symptoms (eating disorders, pain, bedsores, respiratory failure, etc.). The symptoms developing in the advanced stages of neurological diseases requiring palliative care are described. Drug and non-drug methods of treatment are described, measures aimed at improving the quality of life and preventing complications are considered. The features of pharmacotherapy, taking into account their interaction with drugs for the treatment of concomitant pathology, are considered.