Palliative care interventions for surgical patients: a narrative review

Palliative interventions have known benefits in the care of surgical patients with advanced illness. However, the literature supporting the routine use and implementation of palliative care in the context of surgery is limited. The primary aim of this review was to explore the literature that has been published in the field of surgical palliative care since 2016. The secondary aim of this analysis was to categorize updates in literature in three foundational domains (I) measuring outcomes that matter to patients; (II) communication and decision making; and (III) delivery of palliative care to surgical patients.

This analysis included citations from PubMed, EMBASE, PsychINFO, and CINAHL, circulated between 01/01/2016 and 22/02/2022 that studied palliative care interventions for surgical patients. Additional articles were included following a manual review of citations and publications from the Annals of Palliative Medicine.

A total of 3,258 unique articles were identified through the database search, and eight additional studies were identified from manual review. Twenty-two articles were included in the final narrative review: seven addressed the first foundational domain, three explored the second, and twelve summarized developments in the third.

With advances in clinical opportunities to support seriously ill patients, the adoption of palliative care frameworks in surgical settings is essential to achieving value-concordant care. Though the literature studying the delivery of palliative care for surgical patients is slowly expanding, additional work is needed to optimize pre and post-operative patient engagement in complex decision making, align surgical treatments with patient-oriented outcomes, and integrate palliative care principles into routine surgical practice.