Infection Management in Palliative Care Patients
Review Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10404255Keywords:
Palliative Care,, Infection, , CancerAbstract
Palliative care encompasses multidisciplinary supportive treatments aimed at improving the quality of life for patients and their families in life-threatening situations. Palliative care patients are more prone to infections due to factors such as comorbidities, frequent hospital admissions, immunosuppressive conditions, and nutritional deficiencies. In palliative care patients, infections can manifest atypically, primarily related to cancer and the use of medications. In these patients, infections often involve resistant microorganisms due to prolonged hospital stays and frequent antibiotic use. Due to the fragile nature of palliative care patients, infections tend to result in high morbidity and mortality.In palliative care clinics, infections, prolonged hospitalizations, and increased costs perpetuate each other in a vicious cycle. The management of infections in palliative care patients requires a comprehensive evaluation of the individual patient. Timely initiation of treatment based on patient-specific assessments will significantly reduce morbidity, mortality, and costs. The aim of this study is to provide recommendations on how to approach infection management in palliative care patients.
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