When to Seek Hospice Care

Palliative Sedation

Most seriously ill people can manage their pain with the help of one or more carefully prescribed pain medications. Sometimes pain is so great that medications don't help enough. In these cases, palliative sedation may be offered. Palliative sedation is the use of sedatives - medications that cause drowsiness and sleep - to the point where the seriously ill person's suffering is relieved.

The level of sedation can be adjusted according to the person's needs and wishes. Limited sedation may be enough to reduce the person's awareness of distressing symptoms, while preserving some alertness. If limited sedation isn't effective, the patient can be sedated to the point of unconsciousness. This level of palliative sedation is used only for the most severe intractable suffering at the very end of life, and only with the consent of the patient or health care proxy.

The intent of palliative sedation is to make the person as comfortable as possible, not to speed up death. It is used only as a last resort, when even exceptional pain medication and care don't adequately relieve the pain.