BACKGROUND: Older trauma patients present with poor preinjury functional status and more comorbidities. Advances in care have increased the chance of survival from previously fatal injuries with many left debilitated with chronic critical illness and severe disability. Palliative care (PC) is ideally suited to address the goals of care and symptom management in this critically ill population. A retrospective chart review was done to identify the impact of PC consults on hospital length of stay (LOS), ICU LOS, and surgical decisions. STUDY DESIGN: A Level 1 Trauma Center Registry was used to identify adult patients who were provided PC consultation in a selected 3-year time period. These PC patients were matched with non-PC trauma patients on the basis of age, sex, race, Glasgow Coma Scale, and Injury Severity Score. Chi-square tests and Student’s t-tests were used to analyze categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Any p value >0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: PC patients were less likely to receive a percutaneous endoscopic gastric tube or tracheostomy. PC patients spent less time on ventilator support, spent less time in the ICU, and had a shorter hospital stay. PC consultation was requested 16.48 days into the patient’s hospital stay. Approximately 82% of consults were to assist with goals of care. CONCLUSION: Specialist PC team involvement in the care of the trauma ICU patients may have a beneficial impact on hospital LOS, ICU LOS, and surgical care rendered. Earlier consultation during hospitalization may lead to higher rates of goal-directed care and improved patient satisfaction.
e19050 Background: It is well known HCT recipients experience multiple symptoms affecting quality of life. Emerging data supports the role palliative care can play in mitigating these issues. Our cellular therapy team collaborated with the Palliative Care team on a pilot project incorporating their expertise into the management of our new allogeneic transplant patients. We chose this group of patients given their increased needs relative to other cellular therapy recipients (i.e. autologous, CTL) and our institution’s available resources. Methods: Patients admitted to the HCT unit for allogenic stem cell transplant underwent palliative care consult during their conditioning regimen. During the initial palliative care visit, performed by a specialist palliative care nurse practitioner, patients underwent comprehensive assessment of physical symptoms, psychosocial distress, and overall quality of life. Patients were then followed during hospitalization by members of the palliative care team including Nurse Practitioner, Social Worker and Chaplain, to address identified needs and support both the patient and their family. The palliative care team provided daily communication and recommendations to our inpatient HCT team. Results: Patient one was a 61-year-old man with intermediate risk MDS who underwent a reduced intensity conditioning regimen of busulfan, fludarabine, and alemtuzumab. His transplant was complicated by delirium and anorexia. Patient two was a 63-year-old man with AML who underwent a reduced conditioning regimen of the same combination. His transplant was complicated by bone pain and insomnia. Patient three was a 70-year-old woman with AML who also underwent a reduced conditioning regimen. Her transplant was complicated by severe mucositis and gastric reflux. Conclusions: Allogeneic stem cell transplant patients experience a multitude of symptoms and psychosocial distress. With the help of a dedicated palliative care assessment, we can improve patients’ quality of life during their admission for the transplant. Considering the positive feedback from patients, we plan to conduct a formal prospective study evaluating the impact of palliative care on adult stem cell transplant patients at our institution. By addressing the patient’s whole person rather than just their disease, we also hope to decrease number of admissions as well as length of stay. Ultimately, we look forward to expanding this to other malignancies as well.
patients admitted to surgical services had a mean of 2 comorbidities documented per patient, not statistically different from those admitted to a medical service (p¼0.87). Patients admitted to surgical services had more subspecialty medical consultations (68.8% vs 57.9%, p¼0.005). Ground level fall is the most common mechanism of injury in the two admitting groups. CONCLUSION:The care of the elderly population can be complex and require multidisciplinary approach. This study shows that the care provided by a surgical service have similar outcomes compared to patients admitted with lesser degree of injuries to a non-surgical service.
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