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Paediatric palliative care: recommendations for treatment of symptoms in the Netherlands

Rutger R G Knops1, Leontien C M Kremer2, A A Eduard Verhagen3

  • 1Department of Paediatric Oncology, Emma Children's Hospital/Academic Medical Centre, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. r.r.knops@amc.uva.nl.

BMC Palliative Care
|November 7, 2015
PubMed

Insights

High-quality pediatric palliative care guidelines are scarce. This study provides recommendations to improve symptom management and reduce suffering for children with life-threatening conditions, aiding caregiver education.

Area of Science:

  • Palliative Care
  • Pediatric Oncology
  • Symptom Management

Background:

  • Children with life-threatening illnesses experience significant end-of-life suffering.
  • Current symptom control in pediatric palliative care is often inadequate due to caregiver unfamiliarity.
  • Clinical practice guidelines are essential for ensuring high-quality pediatric palliative care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop high-quality care recommendations for recognizing and relieving symptoms in pediatric palliative care.
  • To improve the overall quality of palliative care for children facing life-threatening conditions.

Main Methods:

  • Conducted an extensive literature search for guidelines and systematic reviews on pediatric palliative care up to 2011.
  • An expert panel synthesized existing evidence and reached consensus on recommendations.
  • Utilized adult palliative care evidence and limited pediatric data due to scarcity.

Main Results:

  • Identified a significant lack of evidence-based guidelines specifically for symptom treatment in pediatric palliative care.
  • Reviewed 21 guidelines and 693 articles, with only four meeting inclusion criteria.
  • Relied on two textbooks and an adult palliative care website as primary evidence sources.

Conclusions:

  • There is a critical paucity of evidence for treating symptoms in pediatric palliative care.
  • A unique set of recommendations was developed by integrating adult palliative care evidence, sparse pediatric data, and expert consensus.
  • These recommendations serve as a vital educational tool for caregivers to alleviate symptoms and suffering in children receiving palliative care.
Abstract

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