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Adding Life to Their Years: The Current State of Pediatric Palliative Care in CKD

Taylor R House1, Aaron Wightman1,2,3

  • 1Division of Pediatric Nephrology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington.

Kidney360
|April 4, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Pediatric chronic kidney disease (CKD) significantly impacts quality of life, necessitating pediatric palliative care (PPC) integration. This review defines PPC and explores its crucial role in improving care for children with CKD.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nephrology
  • Palliative Care
  • Chronic Kidney Disease

Background:

  • Pediatric chronic kidney disease (CKD) presents significant burdens, including reduced quality of life and increased mortality, despite medical advances.
  • Pediatric palliative care (PPC) aims to alleviate suffering, enhance quality of life, aid decision-making, and coordinate care for children with serious illnesses.
  • While palliative care is integrated into adult nephrology and other pediatric chronic diseases, it remains underutilized in pediatric nephrology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To define pediatric palliative care (PPC) and its scope.
  • To highlight the unmet need for PPC in pediatric nephrology.
  • To review current integration efforts and future opportunities for PPC in pediatric CKD.

Main Methods:

  • This is a review article, synthesizing existing literature and data.
  • It defines PPC, discusses its application in pediatric nephrology, and compares it to adult nephrology and other pediatric chronic diseases.
  • The review identifies current integration efforts and proposes future research directions.

Main Results:

  • Pediatric CKD imposes substantial physical, psychologic, social, and existential burdens on patients and families.
  • PPC offers a framework to address these multifaceted burdens and improve patient outcomes.
  • Integration of PPC into pediatric nephrology is currently limited but essential.

Conclusions:

  • There is a critical need to integrate pediatric palliative care into routine pediatric nephrology practice.
  • PPC can significantly improve the quality of life for children with CKD and their families.
  • Further research and implementation strategies are required to facilitate PPC integration in pediatric nephrology.

Keywords:
chronic kidney diseasedialysisend stage kidney diseasegeriatric and palliative nephrologykidney supportive carepediatric nephrologypediatric palliative care

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