palliative

(adjective)

Minimizing the progression of a disease and relieving undesirable symptoms for as long as possible, rather than attempting to cure the (usually incurable) disease.

Related Terms

Examples of palliative in the following topics:

  • Medical Imaging and Diagnostics

    • Many low-dose palliative treatments (for example, radiation therapy targeting bony metastases) cause minimal or no side effects, although short-term pain flare-ups can be experienced in the days following treatment due to edemas compressing nerves in the treated area.

  • Therapeutic Uses of Radiation

    • Many low-dose palliative treatments (for example, radiation therapy targeting bony metastases) cause minimal or no side effects, although short-term pain flare-ups can be experienced in the days following treatment due to edemas compressing nerves in the treated area.

  • Preventing Illness

    • The term contrasts in method with curative and palliative medicine, and in scope with public health methods, which work at the level of population health rather than individual health.

  • Articulating Your Argument Up Front

    • For example, after acknowledging the complex medical and emotional circumstances that surround end-of-life care for a loved one, you might move forward to state your opinion: "When therapeutic and palliative care have reached the limits of their effectiveness in the treatment of fatal illness, patients (and/or their surrogates) should have all options available to them in terms of deciding how or if to continue treatment.
    • For example, after acknowledging the complex medical and emotional circumstances that surround end-of-life care for a loved one, you might move forward to state your opinion: "When therapeutic and palliative care have reached the limits of their effectiveness in the treatment of fatal illness, patients (and/or their surrogates) should have all options available to them in terms of deciding how or if to continue treatment.

  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

    • Palliative treatments for CTS include use of night splints and corticosteroid injection.

  • Pancreatic Cancer

    • In patients not suitable for resection with curative intent, palliative chemotherapy may be used to improve quality of life and gain a modest survival benefit.

  • Lung Cancer

    • Common treatments include palliative care, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

  • Psychosurgery

    • Corpus callosotomy is a palliative surgical procedure for the treatment of seizures, as seen in epilepsy.

  • Colorectal Cancer

    • If the cancer is widely metastatic or not removable surgically, treatment is then palliative.