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Wien Med Wochenschr · Dec 2015
Case ReportsWalking the line. Palliative sedation for existential distress: still a controversial issue?
- Sophie Schur, Lukas Radbruch, Eva K Masel, Dietmar Weixler, and Herbert H Watzke.
- Clinical Division of Palliative Care, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria. sophie.schur@meduniwien.ac.at.
- Wien Med Wochenschr. 2015 Dec 1; 165 (23-24): 487-90.
AbstractAdequate symptom relief is a central aspect of medical care of all patients especially in those with an incurable disease. However, as an illness progresses and the end of life approaches, physical or psychoexistential symptoms may remain uncontrollable requiring palliative sedation. Although palliative sedation has become an increasingly implemented practice in the care of terminally ill patients, sedation in the management of refractory psychological symptoms and existential distress is still a controversial issue and much debated. This case report presents a patient who received palliative sedation for the treatment of existential distress and discusses considerations that may arise from such a therapeutic approach.
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