Palliative Care of Respiratory Disease

Abstract

Respiratory disease is a major cause of suffering and death. There is a broad range of diseases from acute illnesses such as pneumonia and acute lung injury to chronic progressive diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, fibrotic lung disease, cystic fibrosis, and neuromuscular disease. The different trajectories of lung disease are outlined including sudden death from catastrophic illness, cancer trajectory in patients with lung cancer, chronic disease trajectory for patients with progressive lung diseases, and transplant trajectory for patients with diseases such as cystic fibrosis or idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Many patients are now treated by multidisciplinary teams focusing on support, symptom control, restorative care, rehabilitation, and psychological interventions. Palliative and supportive care run in parallel with disease-modifying therapies throughout the course of life-threatening respiratory disease. A multidisciplinary integrated approach is needed in treating these patients and good-quality palliative care must be achieved in a variety of settings including the patient’s home, care homes, clinics, emergency departments, wards, and intensive care units.