Palliative care is a contemporary and advanced method of treating and helping the patients diagnosed with fatal diseases. This treatment endeavor to ease the psychological problems related with the illnesses.
MesotheliomaMesothelioma is a slow growing disease and cannot be diagnosed in the early stages. The symptoms are also very common which are to be mistaken with some other disease. But with the time the symptoms too become severe. Palliative treatments treat mesothelioma using measures that reduce symptoms. This treatment is not capable of curing the cancer but definitely improves the quality of life. It helps in psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients and their families. This form of treatment is also known as comfort care, supportive care or symptom management.
Palliative treatment help the patients deal with the disease by various modes of treatments such as medication, cognitive and behavioral therapy. This therapy is used in conjunction with other forms of traditional treatment for mesothelioma like radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Palliative therapy comprises of pain management course like pain killers, stress management, meditation and massage therapy. To optimize the patient care there is an open communication for the patient and his family. This therapy takes the traditional role for the patient in the last stage of the cancer.
The common palliative procedures for the treatment of mesothelioma are Chest Tube Drainage and Pleurodesis, Pleuroperitoneal Shunt, Alcohol injection, Palliative radiation therapy and Pain medications. In Chest Tube Drainage and Pleurodesis the fluid built-up due to pleural effusion, one of the symptoms of mesothelioma, is drained out of the chest cavity with the help of chest tube. The pleural space is closed by use of talc slurry or other agent which yields an adhesion.
Pleuroperitoneal Shunt plays a partial role in palliation. It involves placement of a catheter run under the skin from the pleural to the peritoneal cavity. Alcohol injection eases the pain caused during the surgery. This inactivates the nerves that pass the message of pain from the affected area to the brain. Pain medications include strong pain-killing drugs which reduce pain. This also includes narcotic drugs, which are non addictive.
Palliative radiation therapy reduces the pain using radiation therapy as it kills the cancer cells. In this therapy, patients are given larger doses of radiation over a period of several weeks. Many patients have experienced good results with this treatment. These are some of the palliative treatments to be considered during the treatment procedure of mesothelioma.