Jared Lowe, MD, and Laura Hanson, MD, have co-authored an editorial about a new research study in JAMA titled Preventing Death Rattle with Prophylactic Subcutaneous Scopolamine Butylbromide.
Noisy breathing is among the signs that accompany impending death, and one that evokes controversy in end-of-life care. This is the sound of respirations caused by secretions and muscle relaxation in the upper airway. In the editorial, the authors discuss evidence for the use of prophylactic scopolamine butylbromide to reduce the death rattle.
The editorial was also featured in MedPage Today, and selected for a podcast. Lowe and Ethan Basch, MD, JAMA Associate Editor and chief of oncology in the Department of Medicine joined study lead Harriette van Esch, MD, from the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands.
Lowe is assistant professor in the UNC Palliative Care Program and Medical Director of UNC Hospice. Hanson is professor in the division of geriatric medicine and Medical Director of the UNC Palliative Care Program.