Complementary role of intervention radiology in palliative care in oncology setting

Abstract

Owing to advances in treatment of cancer, there has been increase in life expectancy. Palliative care aims at improving quality of life of patients suffering from malignancy and is now recognized as a separate subspecialty. Management of cancer patients needs a multidisciplinary approach, and radiology has a key role to play at every step of it. Interventional radiology has broadened its scope immensely over the last decade with development of newer and less invasive applications useful in oncology and palliative care. The role of interventional radiologists begins from obtaining tissue for histopathological examination and extends to controlling disease spread with ablation or chemoembolization, to managing the tumor-related complications and relieving stressful symptoms such as dyspnea and pain. This article aims to review the interventional radiologist's arsenal in managing patients with malignancies with a special emphasis on palliative care, providing a more holistic approach in improving the quality of life of cancer patients.

Handheld Ultrasound (HHUS): Potential for Home Palliative Care

“…Although therapeutic interventions are not curative in most cases, they improve quality of life by relieving distressing physical symptoms 52 . While ultrasound-guided interventions like paracentesis could be done safely in homecare settings, there is still little information on the use of HHUS in homecare settings among PCPs to enhance clinical decision-making in outpatient PC 23 53 . Of 123 HH-POCUS examinations performed by PCPs on 79 PC patients in our previous HH-POCUS-study, 18 HH-POCUS-guided paracentesis procedures were performed immediately during the first home visit to relieve the patient’s symptoms 28 .…”