Palliative Care Pearls: Opioid Dose Escalation in the Treatment of End-of-Life Pain

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Dana L Abraham ◽

Inmaculada Hernandez ◽

Gina T Ayers ◽

Jennifer A Pruskowski

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

Survival Time ◽

Dose Escalation ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Mean Difference ◽

Cox Proportional Hazards Model ◽

Opioid Dose ◽

Time To Death ◽

Published Evidence ◽

Palliative Care Consultation

Abstract Purpose Opioids are crucial to the relief of pain and dyspnea experienced by patients dying in the hospital setting; however, there are concerns about the association of opioid dosage with hastened death via opioid-induced respiratory depression, and there is little published evidence regarding the association between opioid dose escalation and time to death in the inpatient comfort measures only (CMO) population. Methods The medical records of adult patients admitted to 2 hospitals who had an active CMO order at the time of death and received opioid dose escalations after CMO pronouncement were assessed in a retrospective cohort study. Patients were categorized into higher and lower opioid dose escalation groups according to an institutional palliative care symptom guide. A Cox proportional hazards model was constructed to test the associations between dose escalation group, patient sex, opioid naivety, palliative care consultation, and opioid dosage after CMO pronouncement (independent variables) and time to death (dependent variable). Results In the 71-patient cohort, 39 patients (54.9%) were male and 32 (45.1%) were female. The mean (SD) age of patients was 67.2 (16.6) years. Higher dose escalation (n = 46, 64.8%) was associated with a nonsignificant decrease in survival time compared to lower dose escalation (n = 25, 35.2%), with a mean difference in time to death of 19.8 hours (hazard ratio [HR], 1.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.94-2.97). Receipt of a palliative care consult (n = 56, 78.9%) during the final hospital visit was associated with increased survival time (mean difference, 20.1 hours; HR, 0.32; 95% CI, 0.16-0.63). Conclusion Time to death in an inpatient CMO population was not significantly associated with the degree of opioid dose escalation.

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End-of-life care in COVID-19: An audit of pharmacological management in hospital inpatients

Palliative Medicine ◽

10.1177/0269216320935361 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 34 (9) ◽

pp. 1235-1240

Author(s):

Timothy Jackson ◽

Katie Hobson ◽

Hannah Clare ◽

Daniel Weegmann ◽

Catherine Moloughney ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

End Of Life ◽

Symptom Control ◽

Clinical Manifestations ◽

Palliative Care Team ◽

Care Team ◽

Specialist Palliative Care ◽

Opioid Dose ◽

Higher Doses ◽

Hospital Inpatients

Background: Hospital clinicians have had to rapidly develop expertise in managing the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 including symptoms common at the end of life, such as breathlessness and agitation. There is limited evidence exploring whether end-of-life symptom control in this group requires new or adapted guidance. Aim: To review whether prescribing for symptom control in patients dying with COVID-19 adhered to existing local guidance or whether there was deviation which may represent a need for revised guidance or specialist support in particular patient groups. Design/setting: A retrospective review of the electronic patient record of 61 hospital inpatients referred to the specialist palliative care team with swab-confirmed COVID-19 who subsequently died over a 1-month period. Intubated patients were excluded. Results: In all, 83% (40/48) of patients were prescribed opioids at a starting dose consistent with existing local guidelines. In seven of eight patients where higher doses were prescribed, this was on specialist palliative care team advice. Mean total opioid dose required in the last 24 h of life was 14 mg morphine subcutaneous equivalent, and mean total midazolam dose was 9.5 mg. For three patients in whom non-invasive ventilation was in place higher doses were used. Conclusion: Prescription of end-of-life symptom control drugs for COVID-19 fell within the existing guidance when supported by specialist palliative care advice. While some patients may require increased doses, routine prescription of higher starting opioid and benzodiazepine doses beyond existing local guidance was not observed.

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Much Ado About Fried Chicken: Abetting Aspiration or Respecting Autonomy?

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2019_ajslp-18-0207 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 1356-1362

Author(s):

Laurence Tan Lean Chin ◽

Yu Jun Lim ◽

Wan Ling Choo

Keyword(s):

Palliative Care ◽

End Of Life ◽

Multidisciplinary Team ◽

Biopsychosocial Model ◽

Family Members ◽

Clinical Decisions ◽

Goals Of Care ◽

Complex Needs ◽

Aspiration Risk ◽

Patient Centric

Purpose Palliative care is a philosophy of care that encompasses holistic, patient-centric care involving patients and their family members and loved ones. Palliative care patients often have complex needs. A common challenge in managing patients near their end of life is the complexity of navigating clinical decisions and finding achievable and realistic goals of care that are in line with the values and wishes of patients. This often results in differing opinions and conflicts within the multidisciplinary team. Conclusion This article describes a tool derived from the biopsychosocial model and the 4-quadrant ethical model. The authors describe the use of this tool in managing a patient who wishes to have fried chicken despite aspiration risk and how this tool was used to encourage discussions and reduce conflict and distress within the multidisciplinary team.

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