PAIN AND PALLIATIVE CARE IN ONCOLOGY
Olivia Ramos Dos Santos, Armindo Antônio Alves and Ana Laura Remédio Zeni Beretta*
ABSTRACT
Cancer is a chronic and progressive disease that causes physical pain, emotional distress and spiritual intense. This disease when diagnosed at an advanced stage decreases the chance of patient survival. According to INCA statistics, cancer is the second leading cause of death in Brazil. The pain affects 60 to 80% of cancer patients, 25 to 30% at the diagnosis and 70 to 90% with advanced disease. These data led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare in 1986, the pain associated with cancer a Global Medical Emergency. According to the WHO, palliative care is an approach that promotes the quality of life of patients and their families facing diseases that threaten the continuity of life through the prevention and relief of suffering. It requires early identification, assessment and treatment of pain and other problems of
physical, psychosocial and spiritual nature. The pain most studied symptom in all age groups, still represents a major challenge for most physicians, reaching the opiophobia perhaps by ineffective or absent training during their education. The review of the literature used was exploratory descriptive character, using books, scientific articles and manuals of the Ministry of Health, and demonstrates that high cancer mortality rates refer to the need for assistance in palliative care. There are few palliative care services in Brazil, with care based on scientific criteria and quality. Effective control of cancer pain in palliative care requires a multidisciplinary team. Therefore, it is necessary to develop educational activities for health professionals and patients, related to pain control and the fundamentals and principles in palliative care.
Keywords: patient care, palliative care, pain, cancer.
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