RESUMEN
Palliative care emergencies such as spinal cord compression require prompt diagnosis and treatment to get the best results. Hospitals dealing with these emergencies need to develop pathways of care for these patients based on best evidence derived from hard data. The authors looked at all spinal cord compressions that presented to their hospital over a 10-year period. The authors found that the commonest day of presentation of this condition was on Mondays and not Fridays as had been widely believed prior to this study. Hospitals are encouraged to look at hard data and not anecdotes when developing pathways of care for their patients.
Asunto(s)
Actitud del Personal de Salud , Neoplasias/terapia , Cuidados Paliativos , Compresión de la Médula Espinal/terapia , Anécdotas como Asunto , Urgencias Médicas , Medicina Basada en la Evidencia , Humanos , Neoplasias/complicaciones , Estudios Retrospectivos , Compresión de la Médula Espinal/etiología , Reino UnidoRESUMEN
Capecitabine is an oral chemotherapeutic agent converted to 5 fluorouracil (5-FU). Neurotoxicity associated with the medication encompasses both central and peripheral nervous systems. We describe a 60 year old man with colonic carcinoma who developed diplopia due to a sixth nerve palsy following the use of capecitabine which is an orally administered prodrug of 5-FU. An MRI of brain did not reveal a space occupying lesion or vascular insult to account for his cranial nerve palsy. The sixth nerve palsy resolved spontaneously once capecitabine was withdrawn. Physicians in all walks of life are increasingly likely to come across such patients and should familiarize themselves with toxicities consequent to chemotherapy. Further research is needed to elucidate the cause of capecitabine associated neurotoxicity.