Mastodon Pediatric Palliative Care - The Outliers ~ Pallimed

Monday, February 29, 2016

Pediatric Palliative Care - The Outliers

by Kevin Madden, MD

Just as in any medical specialty, there are “bread and butter” aspects of Pediatric Palliative Care – situations we encounter on a frequent basis that we are quite comfortable in dealing with.  Pain management, constipation, family meetings, resuscitation status and discussions about goals of care certainly are at the top of that list.


Well, I’m a zebra guy. 

What? 

Remember the old medical saying “when you hear hoof beats, think of horses not zebras”?  I’m a zebra guy.  I’m endlessly fascinated with the obscure, the rare and the unusual. 

This week’s Tweet Chat will be on topics that we do not confront with on a daily basis but will come across at some point in our careers.  Since they are infrequent, they lend themselves to a group discussion where we can learn from each other’s collective experience.





Dr. Kevin Madden is a palliative care physician at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Tx. He specializes in Pediatrics, and his research interests include opioids in children with advanced cancer. 

T1:  Pediatric Delirium: How do you diagnose delirium in a child?  Should we screen for delirium in children?  How do you treat delirium in children?

T2:  Outside the Box:  The use of non-traditional medications and non-traditional routes to alleviate suffering.  What have you done that the rest of us can “put in our back-pocket” to be able to use in a crisis or unusual circumstance?

T3:  Pediatric Palliative Sedation:  When do you consider palliative sedation therapy in children?  What medications do you use?  What ethical dilemmas have you encountered?



What: #hpm (hospice and palliative med/care) chat on Twitter
When: Wed 3/2/2016 - 9p ET/ 6p PT
Host: Kevin Madden MD Follow him on Twitter @madden_kevin


If you are new to Tweetchats, you do not need a Twitter account to follow along. Try using the search function on Twitter. If you do have a Twitter account, we recommend using tchat.io for ease of following. You can also check out the new site dedicated to #hpm chat - www.hpmchat.org

Photo credit: ZebraPen.com

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