Practical guide to palliative sedation.

Abstract

Terminally ill patients want assurance that their symptoms will be controlled as death approaches. Most patients can have a peaceful death with standard palliative care. Some patients approaching death, however, have refractory symptoms such as pain, dyspnea, nausea, and agitated delirium. Palliative sedation (PS), the use of medications to induce sedation in order to control refractory symptoms near death, is a therapeutic option for these patients. The reported frequency of PS use varies greatly, ranging from 5% to 52% of the terminally ill. One concern with PS is its effect on survival. Data suggest that PS does not lead to immediate death, with the median time to death after initiating PS being greater than 1 to 5 days. A number of medications have been used for PS, but midazolam is most commonly reported. PS is distinct from euthanasia because the intent of PS is relief from suffering without death as a required outcome.