of supportive care and emergency medicine is necessary for the successful medical management of avian patients. The basic concepts of emergency and supportive care of small animal medicine apply to birds, but modifications must be made to compensate for their unique anatomy and physiology. Supportive care including fluid therapy, nutritional support, and heat and oxygen supplementation is criti...

BACKGROUND Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a pathological disturbance of the complex balance between coagulation and anticoagulation that is precipitated by vascular injury, acidosis, endotoxin release and/or sepsis and characterized by severe bleeding and excessive clotting. The innately low levels of coagulation factors found in newborn infants place them at extremely high ris...

Nutritional support of the child with cancer now is recognized as an important adjunct to cancer treatment. Protein-energy malnutrition frequently accompanies the diagnosis and treat ment of children with neoplastic diseases. Common risk factors for the development of protein-energy malnutrition include ad vanced stages of disease, lack of tumor responses, intense treatment with curative intent...

Disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) is a syndrome characterised by the systemic activation of blood coagulation, which generates intravascular fibrin leading to thrombosis of smalland medium-sized vessels and eventually contributes to organ dysfunction (1). In addition, the consumption of platelets and coagulation factors may predispose patients with DIC to haemorrhagic complications. ...

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies. An estimated 32,300 patients will die of pancreatic cancer in year 2006. It is the tenth most common malignancy in the United States. Despite recent advances in pathology, molecular basis and treatment, the overall survival rate remains 4% for all stages and races. Palliative care represents an important aspect of care in patient with pa...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW 'Supportive care' is a commonly used term in oncology; however, no consensus definition exists. This represents a barrier to communication in both the clinical and research settings. In this review, we propose a unifying conceptual framework for supportive care and discuss the proper use of this term in the clinical and research settings. RECENT FINDINGS A recent systematic ...