Atuação da fisioterapia em pacientes em cuidados paliativos: uma revisão integrativa

Abstract

Introduction: Palliative care emerged in order to support individuals who have a disease without cure now, intervening to promote maximum comfort for them. Health professionals, such as physical therapists, offer alternatives for the management and control of symptoms resulting from the disease, such as pain, dyspnea and other discomforts, aiming to improve the individual's quality of life. Objectives: To conduct an integrative literature review on the role of physiotherapy in palliative care. Methodology: This is an integrative qualitative review conducted in the LILACS and PubMed databases of articles published in the last 12 years. The guiding question was: “How can physiotherapy act in palliative care?” Results: The search resulted in 79 articles, after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the final sample had 7 articles. The interventions found were acupuncture, group and individual activity programs, lymphatic drainage, gait and balance training associated with strengthening and bracing, mechanical ventilation, respiratory physiotherapy techniques, physical exercise along with myofascial release and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, resistance training. Conclusions: Physiotherapeutic techniques can be used to alleviate the discomfort of these patients, with positive results in reducing pain, fatigue and lymphedema, as well as improving mobility, bone density and quality of life. However, studies with a larger sample size are necessary to prove the effectiveness of physiotherapeutic techniques and approaches aimed at patients in palliative care.