Dados do Trabalho

Título

The role of a multidisciplinary radiotherapy team in Sézary Syndrome and psychosocial vulnerability: a case report

Apresentação do caso

The cancer diagnosis is a very delicate moment in a patient’s life. When psychosocial vulnerabilities are not properly fulfilled, the treatment continuity is prejudiced, showing the importance of a multidisciplinary team in assisting the patient. The aim of this resume is to report the case of a patient diagnosed with Sézary Syndrome. D.S.G., male, 30 years, resident of a city 500 kilometers away from Porto Alegre. Furthermore, the patient has a history of crack and cocaine addiction and was in treatment for depression in the last 6 years. D.S.G diagnosis of Sézary Syndrome was on may 2020, which is a rare and aggressive form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. By the time of this case report, D.S.G is hospitalized and under treatment in a radiation therapy unit. During nursing radiotherapy evaluation, the patient presented skin involvement throughout the body characterized by erythroderma with fissure areas, local bleeding and fetid odor. Due to the disseminated aspect of those skin lesions, the patient presents locomotion difficulty, intensive and constant pain, needing medications for algic control.

Discussão

Considering how aggressive the manifestation of Sézary Syndrome is on the patient of this case report, it is reasonable that D.S.G. has not only physical implications, but psychological and social ones. The patient has depersonalization and derealization symptoms, aside from that, referring behaviours such as not looking himself in the mirror because D.S.G. does not recognize his figure. During his treatment in radiotherapy, the nursing team was also able to identify psychosocial issues, such as treatment continuity and the stay of D.S.G’s father in Porto Alegre, which required social service acting, that managed to lodge him in a boarding house, contributing to the continuity of the patient’s treatment. The multidisciplinary teams seek for a patient’s quality of life, which involves not only a treatment plan, but also reinforce the bond between family and patient and reinsert him in society through city programs with that aim.

Comentários finais

Such issues highlight the importance of a multidisciplinary team assisting the patient under radiotherapy and his physical, psychological and social demands, providing an integrated view of its symptoms. The importance of this approach in a high complexity center allows the patient an effective treatment, integrating its paraeffects and providing the confrontation to the disease.

Palavras-chave

Multidisciplinary team; Oncology; Radiotherapy