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Palliative cancer care - cough - Management
When should I consider symptomatic treatment for cough?
- Consider symptomatic treatment if one or more of the following applies:
- The option of treating the underlying cause is not possible or is inappropriate.
- The person remains distressed by symptoms despite treatment of the underlying cause.
- The person is in the terminal phase of life. For information on recognizing the terminal phase, see the CKS topic on Palliative cancer care - general issues.
Basis for recommendation
- This recommendation is based on pragmatic advice and expert opinion from the palliative care literature [Ahmedzai, 2004; Estfan and LeGrand, 2004].
- Cough may be very distressing in the terminal phase of cancer. The act of coughing may cause or aggravate pain, it may disturb sleep, and it can impede communication between people with cancer and their carers [Ahmedzai, 2004].
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