Il Reiki nell'assistenza infermieristica al paziente anziano con neoplasia avanzata

Summary Reiki is an ancient and simple technique born in Tibetan Sutras and administered by touching lightly different body parts. It is currently used as adjuvant to reduce pain, including cancer pain, to support chemio-radiotherapy, to relieve global pain in advanced and terminal patients. End point of our study is the role of Reiki, as adjuvant to pharmacological therapy, in supportive care of elderly cancer patients. In a prospective, pilot study 35 patients with advanced cancer were enrolled; 16 were females, and median age was 71 yrs. Six patients had Reiki until death. A median of 6 (range 2-9) Reiki treatments were given to each patient, in 2-3 session in a week. Medium to deep relaxation was obtained in 90% of patients and self feeling was good to very good in 94%. Patient satisfaction was high at the treatments end with a mean score of 9.5 (0 to 10). Quality of life improved in every patient: pain was better tolerated and anxiety, nausea and vomiting decreased.Terminal patients were treated until death in comfort and wellbeing. Reiki was appreciated by elderly cancer patients as improving the quality of their survival. It can be integrated with standard nursing care a.