Introduction. Palliative care in Kenya and the larger Sub-Saharan Africa is considered a preserve of hospices, where these exist.\nSurgical training does not arm the surgeon with the skills needed to deal with the care of palliative patients. Resource constraints\ndemand that the surgeon be multidiscipline trained so as to be able to adequately address the needs of a growing population of\npatients that could benefit from surgical palliation. Patients and Methods.The author describes his experience in the management\nof a series of 31 palliative care patients, aged 8 to 82 years. There were a total of nine known or presumed mortalities in the first year\nfollowing surgery; 17 patients experienced an improved quality of life for at least 6 months after surgery. Fourteen of these were\ndisease-free at 6 months. Conclusion. Palliative reconstructive surgery is indicated in a select number of patients. Although cure is\nnot the primary intent of palliative surgery, the potential benefits of an improved quality of life and the possibility of cure should\nencourage a more proactive role for the surgeon. The need for palliative care can be expected to increase significantly in Africa,\nwith the estimated fourfold increase of cancer patients over the next 50 years
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