The Impact of Integrated Multidisciplinary Palliative Care Program on Symptoms in Patients at the Palliative Care Ward-An Audit and a Protocol of Prospective Controlled Investigation.

An integrated multidisciplinary palliative care (IMPC) program is a promising tool to improve symptom control in patients at the end of life. The aim was to study the feasibility of the IMPC program in patients at the palliative care (PC) ward. A retrospective audit, using the extended Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS), was conducted on the PC ward of the university hospital. Consecutive patients who were admitted for the IMPC program during 1 year were considered. One hundred forty-eight cases (93% with underlying cancer) were analyzed. The intensity of pain levels, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and sleep disorders decreased at least by 50% ( P < .0001) during the 13 (median) days of IMPC. Integrated multidisciplinary PC program was associated with symptom improvements in patients at the PC ward. The information generated supports sample size calculation for a prospective controlled trial.

[Quality of life and outcome after holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP)]. / Lebensqualität und Outcome nach Holmiumlaserenukleation der Prostata (HoLEP).

BACKGROUND: Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) was established 20 years ago as an alternative to Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TUR-P) based on improved morbidity in patients with benign prostate syndrome (BPS). HoLEP can be applied independently to almost all sizes of prostate glands and is recommended in national and international guidelines. Although the HoLEP procedure has a good reputation, many patients still prefer conservative treatment due to fears of side-effects such as pain and urinary incontinence. The aim of this study was to identify patients' feelings, fears and perception of their HoLEP treatment based on Patient-reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) via questionnaires. MATERIAL UND METHODS: During the time period from June to December 2020, 152 consecutive patients were treated by HoLEP due to BPS and were interviewed based on questionnaires right after their surgical treatment and 3 months later concerning their satisfaction as well as micturition and continence. Based on a written informed consent, 112 patients were included in the study, and a complete 3-month follow-up was available for 88 patients. RESULTS: The mean volume of enucleated prostate tissue was 62.1 [g] and the mean prostate volume estimated pre-operatively (trans-rectal ultrasound) was 83.1 [cm3]. Overall patient-reported satisfaction with the hospital stay including surgical treatment was 94.6%; after 3 months it was 91.8%. Concerning micturition, 76.5% of the patients reported satisfaction after surgery and 80.4% were satisfied after 3 months. Urinary incontinence was reported in 8.3% initially and in 9.1% after 3 months. Positive answers to questions concerning the quality of life index [L] were obtained in 62.1% initially and their number increased to 85.7% after 3 months. The share of negative answers decreased from 11.7% after surgery to 3.4% within the 3-month follow-up. DISCUSSION: HoLEP is a well-established treatment of BPS with lower side-effects compared with TUR-P according to the literature. To address doubts and misgivings, it is important to perform surveys on subjective patient satisfaction after the surgical procedure and over time. The high patient satisfaction could help future patients and the urologists treating them to establish the indication for HoLEP treatment earlier in order to avoid severe LUTS or catheterization.