Retrospective Observational Study about Patient’s Profile who Reveived Palliative Sedation Therapy at the Palliative Care Unit in a Brazilian Cancer Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: The World Health Organization estimates that 27 million new cases of cancer will occur until 2030 around the world. In 2017, 597.000 new cases were expected to occur in Brazil with 70% of lethality rate. Palliative Care comprises end of life care, and physical symptom control is one of the aims of its actions. Eventually, the symptoms can be refractory. For such cases, the Palliative Sedation Therapy (PST) is an option, that is the use of drugs to reduce or abolish patient’s consciousness to relieve suffering. Studies have demonstrated that using suitable techniques does not shorten patient’s life. Objective: To identify patient’s profile that received PST at the end of life. Method: Cross-sectional observational study collecting data from patients records who died at a palliative care unit of a cancer hospital in 2015. Data was collected regarding demographics, proportion of patients who received PST, what were the more frequent symptoms, the more used drugs, the average dose used, if any discussion with the Family or the team occurred, the length of PST in days, and the survivorship until death. Results: In 2015 there were 919 deaths, 198 (21.5%) received PST, 55.1% were female, the average age was 55 years-old. The most frequent symptoms at the time of indication were dyspnoea (64.1%), pain (36.3%), and other symptoms (30.3%). The most frequent used drug was midazolam (98%) and the most frequent modality used was continuous sedation (75.8%).