Agitation in palliative care

Agitation -shaking , moving , unsettled - it can be linked to emotional, physical, or spiritual distress. Terminal agitation is the agitation seen in the last few days of life.

Delirium -Defined as an acute syndrome involving a global cerebral dysfunction of the brain with a complex neuropathogenesis and multiple causes

Terminal restlessness -characterized by sudden appearance of in congruent behaviours rather than anger , depression or other emotions commonly experienced during the the stages of dying.This is also described as terminal agitation or terminal delirium , terminal anguish , confusion at the end of life

Palliative sedation this is the intentional administration of sedatives to reduce a dying person's consciousness to relieve intolerable suffering from refractory symptomsOther terms to note here ( based on health care setting ) continuous sedation until death ( CSD ) proportionate palliative sedation palliative sedation to unconsciousness ( PSU )

How common -Exact prevalence is not known It is quite common and Karen A Kehl writes in the Journal of Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother in 2004 that terminal restlessness is an important issue in the management of symptoms at the end of life with between 25 % and 88 % of dying patients exhibiting...