論文ID: JNMS.2019_86-609
Background: The number of patients with bone metastases is increasing in Japan as the population ages. A multidisciplinary approach for patients with bone metastases is important. Since 2014, our orthopedics department has undertaken activities, including giving lectures describing a multidisciplinary approach for bone metastases to hospital staff and holding regular cancer board meetings that focus on bone metastases, to promote a multidisciplinary approach in our hospital. This study aimed to investigate whether these activities have effectively promoted multidisciplinary approaches and improved the outcomes of patients with bone metastasis.
Methods: To investigate the effects of changes in medical practice on patients with bone metastases, different clinical factors were compared between patients from a period after the start of the activity (PASA), i.e., January 2014 to December 2017, and patients from a period before the start of the activity (PBSA), i.e., January 2011 to December 2013.
Results: The semiannual numbers of first-visit patients, referrals, and orthopedic surgical cases, and the numbers of patients with slower growing primary cancers and patients whose pain was milder were significantly higher during the PASA than those during the PBSA. The number of patients without paralysis tended to be higher during the PASA than during the PBSA. The survival periods after the first visit to the orthopedics department were significantly longer during the PASA than during the PBSA.
Conclusion: A high potential demand exists for a multidisciplinary approach for bone metastases, and orthopedic specialists should actively participate in this approach.
