Continuous palliative sedation for patients with advanced cancer at a tertiary care cancer center.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Palliative sedation (PS) is an intervention to treat refractory symptoms and to relieve suffering at the end of life. Its prevalence and practice patterns vary widely worldwide. The aim of our study was to evaluate the frequency, clinical indications and outcomes of PS in advanced cancer patients admitted to our tertiary comprehensive cancer center.

Methods

We retrospectively studied the use of PS in advanced cancer patients who died between March 1st, 2012 and December 31st, 2014. PS was defined as the use of continuous infusion of midazolam or neuroleptics for refractory symptoms in the end of life. This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of our institution (project number 2481-15).

Results

During the study period, 552 cancer patients die

SUBMITTER: Prado BL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5755023 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature