Palliative Care Rounds: Update on Spinal Cord Compression for the Palliative Care Clinician

Metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) is a devastating complication of cancer. Palliative care clinicians are often called to help manage the pain of such patients, and they can continue to assist the patient and family in choosing among treatment and rehabilitation options. The objectives of this case presentation are to alert palliative care providers to the subtle presentations of MSCC, the data on symptomatic therapy and the factors that enter into the decision for a recommendation of radiation therapy alone (RT) or surgery followed by RT, the newer RT and re-irradiation options, and the benefits of intensive rehabilitation therapy in select patients.

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