Why do patients with cancer visit the emergency department near the end of life? - CMAJ

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"Between 2002 and 2005 in Ontario, 91 561 patients died of cancer and were included in our cohort."

"...The other highly ranked diagnoses that were common to both periods were abdominal pain, dyspnea, pneumonia, malaise and fatigue, and pleural effusion. A notable difference between the two time periods was the rank of cardiac arrest, which ranked 16th among diagnoses made for visits during the final two weeks but 61st among those made for visits during the final six months. Palliative care, dehydration and altered level of consciousness ranked much higher for the final two-week period than for the six-month period. No specific code exists for pain-related crisis...".

"Clinical descriptions of patients or families as no longer “coping” at home are common."