Sedation in pediatric palliative care: The role of pediatric palliative care teams

• Published in: Palliative & supportive care 2024-08, Vol.22 (4), p.644-648
• Main Authors: Peláez Cantero, Maria José, Morales Asencio, Jose Miguel, Parra Plantagenet-Whyte, Fátima, Leyva Carmona, Moisés, Rosique Antonelli, Mireille, Gili Bigatá, Teresa, Martino Alba, Ricardo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Hypnotics and Sedatives - therapeutic use; Infant; Male; Palliative Care - methods; Palliative Care - standards; Palliative Care - statistics & numerical data; Patient Care Team; Pediatrics - methods; Pediatrics - standards; Spain
• ISSN: 1478-9515; 1478-9523; 1478-9523
• DOI: 10.1017/S1478951523000846

Palliative sedation (PS) consists of the use of drugs to alleviate the suffering of patients with refractory symptoms, through a reduction in consciousness. The aim of this study is to describe the incidence of and indications for PS in patients treated by pediatric palliative care teams (PPCT), and the relationship between PS, the place of death, and the characteristics of the care teams. Ambispective study with the participation of 14 PPCT working in Spain. From January to December 2019, a total of 164 patients attended by these PPCT died. Of these, 83 (50.6%) received PS during their last 24 hours. The most frequent refractory symptoms were terminal suffering (  = 40, 48.2%), dyspnea (  = 9, 10.8%), pain (  = 8, 9.6%), and convulsive state (  = 7, 8.4%). Sedation in the last 24 hours of life was more likely if the patient died in hospital, rather than at home (62.9% vs. 33.3%,