title: Medication and monitoring in palliative sedation therapy: a systematic review and quality assessment of published guidelines.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Palliative sedation therapy (PST) is increasingly used in patients at the end of life. However, consensus about medications and monitoring is lacking.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess published PST guidelines with regard to quality and recommendations on drugs and monitoring.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, and references of included articles until July 2014. Search terms included "palliative sedation" or "sedation" and "guideline" or "policy" or "framework." Guideline selection was based on English or German publications that included a PST guideline. Two investigators independently assessed the quality of the guidelines according to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II instrument (AGREE II) and extracted information on drug selection and monitoring.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nine guidelines were eligible. Eight guidelines received high quality scores for the domain "scope and purpose" (median 69%, range 28-83%), whereas in the other domains the guidelines' quality differed considerably. The majority of guidelines suggest midazolam as drug of first choice. Recommendations on dosage and alternatives vary. The guidelines' recommendations regarding monitoring of PST show wide variation in the number and details of outcome parameters and methods of assessment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The published guidelines on PST vary considerably regarding their quality and content on drugs and monitoring. Given the need for clear guidance regarding PST in patients at the end of life, this comparative analysis may serve as a starting point for further improvement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, Munich University Hospital, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Eva Katharina
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Schildmann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany. Electronic address: jan.schildmann@rub.de.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schildmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, Munich University Hospital, Munich, Germany; Department of Anesthesiology, Munich University Hospital, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kiesewetter
mesh_terms: D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives
keywords: Palliative sedation; drug monitoring; practice guidelines; quality assurance