title: Palliative sedation in a specialized unit for acute palliative care in a cancer hospital: comparing patients dying with and without palliative sedation.
abstract: Palliative sedation is undergoing extensive debate. The aims of this study were to describe the practice of palliative sedation at a specialized acute palliative care unit and to study whether patients who received palliative sedation differed from patients who did not. We performed a systematic retrospective analysis of the medical and nursing records of all 157 cancer patients who died at the acute palliative care unit between 2001 and 2005. Palliative sedation, defined as continuous deep sedation prior to death, was used for 43% of all deceased patients. In 87% of the sedated patients, it was started in the last two days before death. Sedated and nonsedated patients did not differ in survival after admission (eight days vs. seven days, P=0.12). Sedated patients were younger (55 years vs. 59 years, P=0.04) and more often had malignancies of the digestive tract (P<0.01). In both groups, common symptoms at admission were pain (79% vs. 87%, P=0.23), constipation, (40% vs. 48%, P=0.46), and dyspnea (32% vs. 29%, P=0.77). On the day that palliative sedation was started, sedated patients more often suffered from dyspnea and delirium than nonsedated patients at a comparable day before death. The most important indications for palliative sedation were terminal restlessness (60%) and dyspnea (46%). We conclude that at the studied acute palliative care unit, patients who ultimately received palliative sedation did not have symptoms different than nonsedated patients at admission, but on the day at which the sedation was started, they suffered more often from delirium and dyspnea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. j.rietjens@erasmusmc.nl
authors.forename: Judith A C
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rietjens
authors.forename: Lia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Zuylen
authors.forename: Hetty
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Veluw
authors.forename: Lidemarie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van der Wijk
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van der Heide
authors.forename: Carin C D
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: van der Rijt
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000451:nursing; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011595:Psychomotor Agitation / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives