Journal of palliative medicine
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Approximately 10% to 30% of patients with cancer have metastases to the spine that require treatment. Spinal metastases can cause acute and chronic pain, compression fractures, spinal instability, and neurologic deficits. Vertebral compression fractures can be a significant cause of pain and impaired function. ⋯ Percutaneous vertebroplasty is a mildly invasive treatment which involves the injection of cement, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) into a diseased vertebral body. We report a patient who presented with a severely destructive lesion and compression fracture at T9 with severe pain and impaired mobility. Percutaneous vertebroplasty provided immediate pain relief and restored structural stability of the diseased vertebra.
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Hospice chaplains provide a specific expertise to patient and family care, however, individual roles and responsibilities that facilitate the interdisciplinary team environment are less well known. ⋯ Although chaplains foster interdisciplinary collaboration within the hospice team, future research needs to address improvements to the chaplain's role within the interdisciplinary team process.