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Episode 223: Oncologic Emergencies 101: Superior Vena Cava Syndrome

Episode 223: Oncologic Emergencies 101: Superior Vena Cava Syndrome

FromThe Oncology Nursing Podcast


Episode 223: Oncologic Emergencies 101: Superior Vena Cava Syndrome

FromThe Oncology Nursing Podcast

ratings:
Length:
26 minutes
Released:
Sep 2, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

“I think that we as nurses need to advocate when a patient is uncomfortable. And it’s not your classic ‘pain in my hip’ kind of thing. This is a more subtle, ‘I can’t breathe, I have a sense of impending doom, I’m panicked, I want someone beside me.’ It may sometimes appear to be a psychosocial coping issue when it really is a physiologic one,” ONS member Brenda Shelton, DNP, RN, AOCN®, clinical nurse specialist at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, MD, told Stephanie Jardine, BSN, RN, oncology clinical specialist at ONS. Shelton discussed the warning signs of superior vena cava syndrome and nursing considerations for its management. This episode is part of a series about oncologic emergencies; the others are linked in the episode notes. You can earn free NCPD contact hours after listening to this episode by completing the evaluation linked below. Music Credit: "Fireflies and Stardust" by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by September 2, 2024. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. Other Oncology Nursing Podcast episodes on oncologic emergencies Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles: STAT: Superior Vena Cava Syndrome Superior Vena Cava Syndrome: An Education Sheet for Patients ONS book: Understanding and Managing Oncologic Emergencies: A Resource for Nurses (third edition) ONS courses: Oncologic Emergencies Treatment and Symptom Management—Oncology RN Essentials in Oncologic Emergencies for the Advanced Practice Provider ONS Huddle Cards™ Information from the National Cancer Institute Information from Cancer.net National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines American Cancer Society To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From Today’s Episode “Superior vena cava syndrome was first recognized with tuberculosis, and now it’s almost exclusively going to occur in patients with cancer because it’s physiologically the outcome of too much mass in between the sternum and the spine.” Timestamp (TS) 01:57 “You might see some very subtle right arm heaviness, edema; you might see a prominent right antecubital, or prominent veins on the hand of the right arm, or a prominent right jugular vein. But these are all things that can be subtle, and the patient may present with aching of the arm, numbness or tingling of that arm, just really things that don’t necessarily raise your awareness because it’s not the classic signs or symptoms you see in your textbooks.” TS 05:35 “When we think of superior vena cava syndrome, we associate it with upper body edema, particularly worse in the morning when somebody rises after having laid flat for all night. . . . But the thing that patients report the most is dyspnea. It is not necessarily entirely due to respiratory problems. In this case, it’s due to compression of the vena cava and an alteration of the blood returned to the heart that leads to an altered cardiac output.” TS 06:45 “The three biggest life-threatening complications I think about are airway incompetence, cardiovascular collapse, and clotting. As you compress the vena cava, you are going to diminish the blood return into the heart, and this is going to compromise your ability to oxygenate that blood and put it back out the other side.” TS 08:46 “We always start with a total body assessment, and it’s hard because this patient is going to present with potentially neurologic symptoms, cardiac and respiratory symptoms, as wel
Released:
Sep 2, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Where ONS Voices Talk Cancer. Join oncology nurses as they sit down to discuss the topics important to nursing practice and treating patients with cancer.