A team of researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has identified eight highly specific physical and cognitive signs associated with impending death in cancer patients . The results of the study have been published in the journal Cancer .
How to know if a patient has entered his last days of life? Knowing that the death of a patient is imminent can have important implications for clinical practice and, for families, it can help them and their caregivers to make better and more consistent decisions.
“In the past, studies were done trying to understand the signs associated with impending death. With our study, we looked at a list of signs or signals in patients from the moment they were admitted to the palliative care unit. They were systematically observed twice a day , without knowing if the patient would die or be discharged ”, explains David Hui, leader of the study.
The researchers looked at 357 cancer patients; of all of them, 57% died. From the systematic analysis of the patients, 8 specific symptoms were identified in all those who died within three days . The 8 signals in question are: non-reactive pupils, decreased response to verbal stimuli; decreased response to visual stimuli; inability to close the eyelids; drooping of the nasolabial fold; hyperextension of the neck; “Grunting” of the vocal cords and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
“When cancer patients reach the last days of life, this is a very emotional time for families. Knowing that death is imminent would provide more information so that doctors can plan properly. For doctors, having this information could help reassure families and offer the best possible care . “
