Cuidados paliativos para pacientes con insuficiencia respiratoria crónica

Luis Alejandro Pérez de Llano

The increasing prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases and the longer survival of patients with these disorders have lead to a rise in the number of individuals in a terminal condition with no chances of responding to additional medication. Nevertheless, this epidemiological fact has not been accompanied by a parallel development of palliative care programmes, and this prevents the patients from receiving optimal medical care to ensure their well-being and to avoid further unnecessary admissions to hospital. Our local experience in the Lucus Augusti University Hospital reveals that 7% of the admissions to the respiratory ward correspond to patients with advanced and non-neoplastic chronic respiratory disorders. Only 65% of these patients benefit from a well-structured palliative care plan and practically all of them die in the hospital. Altogether, these data highlight the need for a strategy that involves not only pneumologists but also general practitioners, nurses and palliative care physicians.