Friday 11 March 2016

Conservative care of the elderly ckd patient: a practical guide

Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease, Jan 2016, vol. 23, no. 1, p. 51-56 
Raghavan, Divya, Holley, Jean L

Palliative or supportive care should be routine for conservatively managed CKD patients. Decision-making about dialysis or conservative management requires patients and families be given information on prognosis, quality of life on dialysis, and options for supportive care. Advance care planning is the process by which these issues can be explored. Patients with ESRD have a high symptom burden, which needs to be addressed in any treatment plan. Common symptoms include pain, fatigue, insomnia, pruritus, anorexia, and nausea. Recommendations for management are discussed in the article. 

Fulltext available in Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease