Onkológia 5/2007

PALLIATIVE TREATMENT IN PAEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY

Decision-making in paediatric palliative care is based on accepting the incurability of the disease and believing that the symptom management is in the best interest of child. Many parents if they are early informed and not abandoned and/or consciously or unconsciously pushed by the physician, choose palliative treatment on time. If the curative treatment fails and the cancer becomes incurable and life prolonging treatment brings les benefit than suffering, symptom management in order to achieve good quality of life is in the best interest of child. 40 % of children with life limiting diseases are cancer patients. Fatigue, anorexia, pain, breathlessness, nausea and voming are the most frequent symptoms in terminal children with cancer. Accompaniment of children and families means being available and close as they need and keeping save distance at the same time. In order to come back into the life and be able to enjoy it, parents, siblings and other relatives need to go through long and painful bereavement process and to rebuilt their life once more.

Keywords: children, symptoms, decision-making, palliative treatment, cancer