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Systematic review
Palliative sedation: ethics in clinical practice guidelines – systematic review
  1. Martyna Tomczyk1,
  2. Cécile Jaques2 and
  3. Ralf J Jox1,3
  1. 1 Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
  2. 2 Medical Library, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
  3. 3 Palliative & Supportive Care Service, Chair in Geriatric Palliative Care, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
  1. Correspondence to Dr Martyna Tomczyk, Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1007, Switzerland; Martyna.Tomczyk{at}chuv.ch

Abstract

Objectives The objective of our study was to determine whether, and to what degree, the ethical dimension was present in clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) on palliative sedation, and to identify the ethical issues with respect to the different forms of this practice. The purpose was purely to be descriptive; our aim was not to make any kind of normative judgements on these ethical issues or to develop our own ethical recommendations.

Methods We performed a systematic review of CPGs on the palliative sedation of adults, focusing our analysis on the ethical dimension of these texts and the ethical issues of this practice. The study protocol is registered on PROSPERO.

Results In total, 36 current CPGs from four continents (and 14 countries) were included in our analysis. Generally, ethics was rarely referred to or absent from the CPGs. Only six texts contained a specific section explicitly related to ethics. Ethical issues were named, conceptualised and presented in heterogeneous, often confusing ways. It was impossible to identify the ethical issues of each form of palliative sedation. Ethics expertise was not involved in the development of most of the CPGs and, if it was, this did not always correlate with the ethical dimension of the document.

Conclusions Effective cooperation between palliative care clinicians and ethicists should be encouraged, in order to integrate in particular the crucial ethical issues of continuous deep sedation until death when developing or updating CPGs on palliative sedation.

  • Ethics
  • End of life care

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information.

https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2023-004266

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    Data availability statement

    All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information.

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors MT and RJJ conceived and designed the study; they are the guarantors. MT, CJ and RJJ contributed substantially to the development of the methodological section. MT performed all the searches for and analysed all the CPGs, with help from CJ and RJJ. All authors participated in the interpretation and discussion of the results. MT wrote the manuscript with input from both the other coauthors. All authors read, provided feedback and approved the final version of this manuscript.

    • Funding This systematic review is funded by a grant (grant number: not applicable) from the Pallium Foundation (Canton of Vaud, Switzerland). The research is independent of any involvement from this sponsor.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.