Symptom Management and End-of-Life Care in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Abstract

The number of available symptomatic treatments has markedly enhanced the care of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Once thought to be untreatable, patients with ALS today clearly benefit from multidisciplinary care. The impact of such care on the disease course, including rate of progression and mortality, has surpassed the treatment effects commonly sought in clinical drug trials. Unfortunately, there are few randomized controlled trials of medications or interventions addressing symptom management. In this review, the authors provide the level of evidence, when available, for each intervention that is currently considered standard of care by consensus opinion.

Keywords: Constipation; Edema; Laryngospasm; Noninvasive ventilation; Pseudobulbar affect; Secretion management; Sialorrhea; Urinary urgency.