Stähelin H B
Geriatrische Universitätsklinik, Kantonsspital Basel.
Schweiz Rundsch Med Prax. 1993 Jul 20;82(29-30):792-4.
Dehydration is common in the elderly. It is caused by a diminished perception of thirst, drugs, and many acute illnesses. Dehydration leads to unspecific signs and symptoms. Proper diagnosis reverses the situation. A restriction of hydration in the sense of palliative terminal care must therefore exclude carefully reversible dehydration and establish clearly that a terminal situation is present. If the careful evaluation of the patient leads to the conclusion that a rapidly progredient worsening of his condition is to be expected, that neither a cure nor a symptomatic improvement are possible and death will occur within days or a few weeks and that the patient would probably consent: a terminal dehydration can be appropriate.
脱水在老年人中很常见。它由口渴感减退、药物及许多急性疾病引起。脱水会导致非特异性的体征和症状。正确诊断可扭转这种情况。因此，在姑息性临终关怀中限制补液必须仔细排除可逆转的脱水情况，并明确确定患者处于临终状态。如果对患者的仔细评估得出结论，预计其病情会迅速恶化，既无法治愈也无法实现症状改善，且患者将在数天或几周内死亡，并且患者可能会同意：那么进行临终脱水可能是合适的。
