Abstract
Context. The presence of symptoms that are difficult to control always requires
adjustment of treatment, and palliative sedation (PS) should be considered.
Objectives. We analyzed our experience in conducting PS at home for
terminally ill children with cancer during a seven-year period.
Methods. We performed a retrospective analysis of medical records of children
with cancer treated at home between the years 2005 and 2011.
Results. We analyzed the data of 42 cancer patients (18% of all patients); in 21
cases, PS was initiated (solid tumors n ¼ 11, brain tumors [5], bone tumors [4],
leukemia [1]). Sedation was introduced because of pain (n ¼ 13), dyspnea (9),
anxiety (5), or two of those symptoms (6). The main drug used for sedation was
midazolam; all patients received morphine. There were no significant differences
in the dose of morphine or midazolam depending on the patient’s sex; age was
correlated with an increase of midazolam dose (R ¼ 0.68; P ¼ 0.005). Duration of
sedation (R ¼ 0.61; P ¼ 0.003) and its later initiation (R ¼ 0.43; P ¼ 0.05) were
correlated with an increase of the morphine dose. All patients received adjuvant
treatment; in patients who required a morphine dose increase, metoclopramide
was used more often (P ¼ 0.0002). Patients did not experience any adverse
reactions. Later introduction of sedation was associated with a marginally higher
number of intervention visits and a significantly higher number of planned visits
(R ¼ 0.53; P ¼ 0.013).
Conclusion. Sedation may be safely used at home. It requires close monitoring
and full cooperation between the family and hospice team. Because of the limited
data on home PS in pediatric populations, further studies are needed. J Pain
Symptom Manage 2014;48:968e974. 2014 American Academy of Hospice and
Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.