Linking To And Excerpting From StatPearls’ “Palliative Sedation in Patients With Terminal Illness”

Posted on June 14, 2025 by Tom Wade MD

Today, I review, link to, and excerpt from StatPearls‘ Palliative Sedation in Patients With Terminal Illness. Poonam Bhyan; Utsav Shrestha; Caroline Schoo; Amandeep Goyal. Last Update: January 19, 2024.

There are 101 similar articles in PubMed.

All that follows is from the above resource.

Continuing Education Activity

Palliative sedation is indicated when there is intractable distress in patients who are terminally ill or dying. It is a palliative practice geared toward providing relief from pain, anxiety, and agitation in patients who otherwise have a short lifespan. The purpose of palliative sedation is to prevent unnecessary suffering and to favor a smooth transition to death. This activity reviews the role of palliative sedation for terminal patients and highlights the ethical and legal dynamics involved with this therapy.

Objectives:

  • Identify the indications for palliative sedation.
  • Describe the associated ethical and legal challenges associated with palliative sedation.
  • Select the appropriate pharmacological agents to provide palliative sedation.
  • Implement interprofessional team strategies for improving care coordination and communication to advance the utilization of palliative sedation and improve the quality of life in terminally ill patients.

Access free multiple choice questions on this topic.

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