Definition: Palliative sedation is the use of sedative medications in increasing doses to achieve a desired level of sedation as a means to relieve suffering. Palliative sedation may be used as a last resort to alleviate intolerable suffering of a patient at the end of his or her life.
Palliative sedation is only done with the patient's or an appointed decision maker's consent and is always done with the intent to relieve suffering, not cause or hasten death.
Also Known As: terminal sedation
