The clinical practice of palliative sedation in terminally ill patients: a review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34024/rnc.2025.v33.19414Keywords:
Palliative care, Terminally ill, Deep sedation, Conscious sedationAbstract
Objective. To clarify the main conflicting aspects of the clinical practice of palliative sedation (PS) that make it impossible to use it satisfactorily to relieve the intolerable suffering of terminally ill patients. Method. A scoping review guided by the PRISMA-ScR script, which included 12 articles at the end of the selection based on the eligibility criteria. The databases used were PubMed, Scopus, VHL, EMBASE and Google Scholar. Results. There is no consensus on the definition of symptom refractoriness; professionals fail to distinguish temporality and intensity; the management of adverse effects and the maintenance of morphine as the opioid of choice for the control of dyspnea and respiratory distress are not defined; there are no criteria for the periodicity and application of the RASS scale; and there is a lack of agreement on the maintenance of hydration and nutritional support. Conclusion. It was possible to discuss the conflicting aspects of PS clinical practice, clarifying medical professionals their role within palliative care.
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References
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Copyright (c) 2025 Alice de Castro Algayer, Carolina Roberta Ohara Barros e Jorge da Cunha Cunha
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Accepted 2025-03-12
Published 2025-03-25
