Abstract

Background: Particularly for those admitted via the emergency room, palliative care is absolutely vital in helping to control advanced cancer patients. Focusing on the demographic, clinical, and management features of patients admitted to the palliative care division at King Abdullah Medical City, this study on the causes of admission, consequences, and variables affecting death.
Methodology: Between January 2023 and December 2024, King Abdullah Medical City served as the location for this retrospective descriptive study. This study comprised every patient admitted to the palliative care facility via the emergency room over this time. Data for demographics, kind of malignancy, stage of malignancy, symptoms causing admission, and clinical results were gathered from the patients’ electronic medical records. The data were evaluated using descriptive and analytic statistics, with statistical significance set at a
p-value < 0.05.
Results: With a mean age of 60.9 years, 161 patients were enrolled. With gastrointestinal and genitourinary cancers being the most frequent, most patients had metastatic cancer (64.1%). Pain (31.2%) and changed consciousness (14.5%) were among the most prevalent signs pointing in admission. Leading emergency room diagnoses were disease progression (24.8%) and uncontrolled pain (19.7%). The mortality rate was 49.1%;
cardiac arrest (41.6%) and septic shock (22.8%) were the most frequent causes of death. Male patients had a significantly higher mortality rate (p = 0.011), and altered consciousness was strongly linked with death (p = 0.022).
Conclusion: This research emphasizes the multifaceted and multifactorial nature of palliative care requirements in cancer patients. Given the high death rate and connection of some symptoms and diagnoses with bad outcomes, good symptom control - especially for pain, changed awareness, and respiratory discomfort - is underlined. Customized interventions targeting the particular requirements of metastatic cancer patients might raise the standard of care in palliative situations.

Key words: Causes of admission, hospitalization outcomes, palliative care unit, emergency department.