The hospice patient undergoing a spinal tumor reduction for symptom relief is classified as which type of surgical procedure?

• A. Palliative
• B. Diagnostic
• C. Curative
• D. Prophylactic

Answer: (A)

The main idea is that some surgeries are done to relieve symptoms and improve comfort, not to cure the disease. In a hospice patient with a spinal tumor, reducing the tumor is aimed at alleviating pain, decompressing neural structures, and improving function or quality of life. This is a palliative approach, where the goal is comfort and symptom relief rather than eradicating the cancer.

The other classifications don’t fit here: a diagnostic procedure is to determine what is causing the problem; a curative procedure aims to remove or destroy the disease so the patient is disease-free; a prophylactic procedure is done to prevent a future problem.