Annals of palliative medicine
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Hypnosis has a long history of use for anesthesia and pain management, as well as in assisting patient to prepare for medical procedures. This article reviews the history of hypnosis applications in clinical medicine and dentistry. ⋯ Persons low in hypnotic ability may benefit from alternative therapeutic interventions; however, the majority of medical patients will benefit from the integration of adjunctive hypnotic therapies into their medical and dental care. The article closes with a discussion of the stronger evidence-based applications of hypnosis in healthcare, and the need for well-trained certified hypnosis practitioners.
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Delirium is a frequent condition in patients in a palliative care situation and most often associated with substantial burden or even danger for the persons concerned as well as caregivers and health-care-professionals. Despite the lack of randomized-controlled-trials (RCTs) benzodiazepines and neuroleptic agents are used extensively in palliative care for the pharmacological management of delirium. A focused review for RCTs assessing pharmacotherapy with benzodiazepines and neuroleptics for the treatment of delirium in patients treated in a palliative care or hospice setting published in 2017 was performed in PubMed. ⋯ When delirium symptoms decay the psychopharmacotherapy has to be tapered. More important than psychopharmacotherapy, the thorough investigation and treatment of potentially reversible causes of delirium (e.g., pharmacotherapy, infection) and the routine identification of patients at risk for delirium along with prophylactic measures are essential. The recently published landmarks RCTs provide moderate evidence to adopt recommendations from other medical specialties (i.e., intensive care, geriatrics) to the field of palliative care.