Neurophysiological Assessments During Continuous Sedation Until Death Put Validity of Observational Assessments Into Question: A Prospective Observational Study.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

In case of untreatable suffering at the end of life, continuous sedation until death (CSD) may be the only treatment option left. Because these patients cannot communicate anymore, caregivers have to rely on behavioral observation to assess the patient's comfort. Recently, however, a number of studies from the neurosciences have shown that sometimes consciousness and pain are undetectable with these traditional behavioral methods. The aim of this study was to find out if subjective caregiver assessments of consciousness and pain would be confirmed by objective neurophysiological measures.

Methods

In this prospective observational study, we observed patients from the start of palliative sedation until death. Subjective caregiver assessments of level of consciousn

SUBMITTER: Six S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8119559 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature