Sage Palliative Medicine & Chronic Care

This episode features Dr Bella Vivat (Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, UCL, London, UK) and Professor Paddy Stone (Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department, UCL, London, UK).   Sedative medication may be used to manage intractable symptoms at the end of patients’ lives. No UK guidelines specifically address the detail of how sedatives should be used, but international guidelines endorse monitoring the depth of sedation, and the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) framework recommends that monitoring should relate to the aim of using sedatives. Despite internationally agreed guidelines and recommendations, use varies widely between countries and settings, including the depth of sedation sought, and the dosages administered.  This study shows that usual practice when using sedative medication in two palliative care settings in London, UK, is predominantly to use low dosages of midazolam to achieve patient comfort, rather than to sedate patients. Practice in these London setti