Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
Similar Documents
Pharmacological strategies used to manage symptoms of patients dying of COVID-19: A rapid systematic review
| Content Provider | SAGE Publishing |
|---|---|
| Author | Heath, Laura Carey, Matthew Lowney, Aoife C. Harriss, Eli Miller, Mary |
| Copyright Year | 2021 |
| Abstract | COVID-19 has tragically resulted in over 2.5 million deaths globally. Despite this, there is a lack of research on how to care for patients dying of COVID-19, specifically pharmacological management of symptoms.Aim:The aim was to determine the dose ranges of pharmacological interventions commonly used to manage symptoms in adult patients dying of COVID-19, establish how effectiveness of these interventions was measured, and whether the pharmacological interventions were effective.Design:This was a rapid systematic review with narrative synthesis of evidence, prospectively registered on PROSPERO (ID: CRD42020210892).Data sources:We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL via the NICE Evidence Health Databases Advanced Search interface; medRxiv; the Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register; and Google Scholar with no date limits. We included primary studies which documented care of patients dying of COVID-19 under the care of a specialist palliative care team.Results:Seven studies, documenting the care of 493 patients met the inclusion criteria. Approximately two thirds of patients required a continuous subcutaneous infusion with median doses of 15 mg morphine and 10 mg midazolam in the last 24 h of life. Four studies described effectiveness by retrospective review of documentation. One study detailed the effectiveness of individual medications.Conclusions:A higher proportion of patients required continuous subcutaneous infusion than is typically encountered in palliative care. Doses of medications required to manage symptoms were generally modest. There was no evidence of a standardised yet holistic approach to measure effectiveness of these medications and this needs to be urgently addressed. |
| Related Links | https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02692163211013255?download=true |
| Starting Page | 1099 |
| Ending Page | 1107 |
| Page Count | 9 |
| ISSN | 02692163 |
| Issue Number | 6 |
| Volume Number | 35 |
| Journal | Palliative Medicine (PMJ) |
| e-ISSN | 1477030X |
| DOI | 10.1177/02692163211013255 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Sage Publications UK |
| Publisher Date | 2021-05-13 |
| Publisher Place | London |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Rights Holder | © The Author(s) 2021 |
| Subject Keyword | COVID-19 systematic review palliative care symptom management SARS-CoV-2 palliative medicine hospice care coronavirus |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
| Subject | Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine |
