Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
ReviewFrom sedation to continuous sedation until death: how has the conceptual basis of sedation in end-of-life care changed over time?
Numerous attempts have been made to describe and define sedation in end-of-life care over time. However, confusion and inconsistency in the use of terms and definitions persevere in the literature, making interpretation, comparison, and extrapolation of many studies and case analyses problematic. ⋯ There is a pressing need to resolve the conceptual confusion that currently exists in the literature to bring clarity to the dialogue and build a base of commonality on which to design research and enhance the practice of sedation in end-of-life care.