Volume 187 - Issue 8
Clinical practice guidelines for communicating prognosis and end-of-life issues with adults in the advanced stages of a life-limiting illness, and their caregivers
Authors: Josephine M Clayton, Karen M Hancock, Phyllis N Butow, Martin H N Tattersall and David C Currow
Med J Aust 2007; 187 (8): 478. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01375.x
Published online: 15 October 2007
Published online: 15 October 2007
In reply: We agree that the content area of these guidelines is very relevant for surgeons, as for all health professionals involved in the care of adult patients with advanced life-limiting illnesses and their caregivers. Surgical representation on our expert panel would have been very useful. We agree that surgery has an important role in terms of palliative treatment options that may be available for certain clinical circumstances.
The issue of how to respond to the question “Why can’t you just cut it out?” is an important one. We believe that the principles outlined in these guidelines would be relevant when responding to this question, but would welcome specific suggestions from Clayer and other surgeons about how they respond to such patients. We would hope to include these suggestions along with other input from surgeons in any future update of these guidelines.