Use of Morphine to Control Terminal Dyspnea in a Palliative Care Unit in Brazil

Abstract

The dyspnea is defined as: "Feeling uncomfortable in the act of breathing" and is one of the most prevalent and devastating symptoms in patients with advanced cancer, independent of the primary site of the disease. It one of refractory symptoms most commonly associated with the progressive loss in quality of life about 70% of patients with advanced cancer present some degree of dyspnea in the last six weeks of life. The Morphine is one of the best medicines for the treatment of terminal dyspnea; it reduces the discomfort and increases the tolerance to hypoxia and hypercapnia.